Intellectual Property Rights
International Conference on Copyright Law and Intellectual Property Rights
April 14-15, 2011
U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus, Frank C. Urbancic delivers welcoming remarks
On April 14-15, 2011, an international conference on copyright law and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) took place in Nicosia at the University of Cyprus Main Auditorium on Kallipoleos Avenue. The title of the conference was: "International Conference on European Copyright Law: Towards a European Copyright Code?" The event was organized by the Department of Law of the University of Cyprus and by the Research Promotion Foundation and Enterprise Europe, with co-sponsorship from the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, the French Embassy in Nicosia, the American Chamber of Commerce in Cyprus (AmCham Cyprus), the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts, the Cyprus Tourism Organization, Microsoft and the Nicosia Bar Association.
The conference featured as speakers some of Europe's leading authorities on IPR issues, including Dr. Reto Hilty, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law; Dr. Frank Gotzen Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Rights of the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium; and Bernt Hugenholtz, professor of Intellectual Property Law and Director of the Institute for Information Law of the University of Amsterdam (IViR). A complete list of the speakers, along with additional information on the conference, is featured in the following website: http://www.cyprusconferences.org/icecl2011
The U.S. Embassy sponsored a session of the conference focusing on IPR issues of a more topical nature and of particular interest to Cyprus. HE Antonis Paschalides, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Mr. Frank C. Urbancic delivered welcoming remarks. Eugene Danilov, regional director of Microsoft for the region, highlighted the significance of using only legitimate software. Local artist, and President of the association of professional visual artists Theodoulos Gregoriou gave an artist's perspective of the importance of preserving, respecting, and upholding IPR. There was also a lively discussion by the participants in relation to the Cyprus copyright enforcement.
Seminar on Intellectual Property Rights
April 13, 2011
U.S. Ambassador Frank Urbancic delivering remarks at the seminar
On Wednesday, April 13, 2011, the United States Embassy in Cyprus and the Turkish-Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KTTO) co-sponsored a seminar on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) open to all business and community leaders. The event took place at the main building of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce located at 90 Bedreddin Demirel Caddesi, in Nicosia.
The main theme of the seminar revolved around how IPR protection (including protection of trademarks, copyrights, and patents) is in every community's interest in order to stimulate innovation and creativity. The conclusion was that protecting intellectual property and knowledge industries remains a cornerstone of development, and the safeguarding of IPR enhances artistic creation, attracting increased investment, and business activity.
Frank C. Urbancic, U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus, and Mr. Günay Çerkez, President, Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce delivered welcoming addresses. Mr. Erhan Erçin, Director of the EU Coordination Center, talked about the Turkish Cypriot IPR situation and the way forward, while Mr. Paul Emmett, of the European Commission Task Force for the Turkish Cypriot Community covered EU assistance to the Turkish Cypriot community on IPR issues. Mr. Akan Gürkan, Advocate with Gürkan & Gürkan was the moderator for the event.