From the very beginning of the preparation of its strategic plan for the next medium-term period (2025-2030), EUIPO has actively involved all stakeholders in the field of intellectual property through consultations and meetings.

As part of this process, EUIPO Executive Director João Negrão and the Director of EUIPO's Institutional Cooperation Department Sandris Laganovskis visited Slovenia today. Negrão emphasized his appreciation for Slovenia's support, highlighting the significance of engaging with all partners to discuss future plans, especially in view of current global geopolitical and economic landscape, which underscores the necessity for strong cooperation: "Our efforts are focused on providing excellent service to businesses. I must commend the Slovenian office, which is a very good example of the kind of cooperation we need. It is an excellent partner and very efficient in terms of size and comparability with other countries", he pointed out. He also touched on further efforts to raise as much awareness as possible about the importance of innovation and intellectual property, not least in terms of making the European economy more competitive.

After the meeting, Minister Han expressed his satisfaction with the close cooperation between the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the EUIPO. He stressed that the work of the EUIPO is very important for Slovenia, but that there is still a lack of awareness in society about the importance of IP protection and that countries themselves need to do more to raise awareness and provide information to both individuals and businesses. He stressed the importance of well-conceived strategic documents, including Slovenia's first national IP strategy, which is currently in the final stages of preparation. Minister Han emphasised the importance of the EUIPO's work in the field of IP protection. "By adopting a national strategy, we will be among the first EU countries to have such a strategy, demonstrating what intellectual property means to us. At the Ministry and the Office we will strive to demonstrate through our work that we are the guardians of intellectual property," the Minister concluded.

Mr Negrão also met with the management of SIPO and Slovenian stakeholders - users of the IPR protection system, who presented their ideas for the strategic planning of the EUIPO's activities until 2030. In their view, the lack of awareness of the importance of IPR protection, especially in micro-enterprises, is particularly problematic.

Following the meeting, SIPO's Director Karin Žvokelj emphasized the significance of inclusive planning and effective cooperation. SIPO is working closely with EUIPO in a number of areas, among which are awareness-raising projects for different target groups, promotion of the EUIPO SME Fund, and digitisation of processes, which simplifies procedures for users of the IPR system. SIPO will also collaborate with EUIPO on the preparation of an international conference on geographical indications and collective trademarks in the field of gastronomy and tourism, which will take place in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia, in November this year.

EUIPO was set up in December 1993 as an EU agency with headquarters in Alicante, Spain. It manages the registration of European Union trade marks and Community designs, ensuring protection of trade marks and designs for businesses and innovators throughout the EU and beyond. At EU level, its tasks also include working towards convergence of tools and practices in cooperation with partners from national and regional IP offices in the EU, users and other institutional partners. Since April 2012, the EUIPO has also been responsible for monitoring IPR infringements under the auspices of the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights.