Jani Kaulo participated as a representative of KAULO & PARTNERS in the main European event in the trademark industry, the ECTA conference in Copenhagen on June 16-18, 2022. KAULO & PARTNERS is actively involved in developing trademark legislation, industry practices and international cooperation in ECTA's Supervisory Board and International Trade Committee.

After the pandemic break, the ECTA Annual Conference physically brought together well over 600 participants: lawyers from the trademark industry and brand owners, researchers from trademark offices, representatives of IP courts and other industry stakeholders.

"The event again offered a lot of topical issues, for example, dispute solutions, licensing, appeal proceedings and most recent case law developments. The annual conference is also a great opportunity to meet both old and new cooperation partners and colleagues in the trademark industry, strengthen the cooperation and keep up to date with the development trends of different countries", Jani Kaulo sums up the conference. 

ECTA conferences are traditionally very informative. This year, too, the conference contained many practical, thought- and discussion-provoking expert speeches under the collective theme title "DESIGNING THE FUTURE”.

The EU's IPR funding for SMEs continues - startups need to improve in the utilization of brand rights

"The positive news for SMEs was, among other things, that the European Union Intellectual Property Office EUIPO reported that the EU’s IPR funding will most likely continue also in 2023. The European SMEs can apply for EU's support for the official fees of their trademark and design applications. And of course, it's worth remembering that the application window is also currently open, as long as there are funds available from the 15 million euro budget for this year on a first-come, first-served basis. If brand protection is relevant to your company, it is wise to submit your application to EUIPO as soon as possible”, Jani Kaulo encourages all startups and SMEs. Read more detailed information about applying for SME funding here.

One noteworthy theme of the conference was also the importance of IP rights, especially for startup companies, in attracting capital investors and obtaining funding.

"Startups do not pay enough attention to intellectual property rights, even though studies show that there is a clear connection between IP rights and obtaining capital funding. In the initial phase, when the company does not yet have a ready-made product or service or an established customer base, the IP assets are of great importance when venture capital investors assess the company's potential and calculate the company's value."

ECTA represents the common vision of the European trademark industry

ECTA, the European Communities Trademark Association, is a community formed by trademark professionals; lawyers from private practices or the industry, judges, academics, and various other IP-related professionals.

ECTA has more than 1,500 members from all EU member states and beyond. Its mission is to promote the knowledge and expertise of the intellectual property community in the fields of trademarks, designs, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights in the European Union.

ECTA is also actively involved in developing European legislation, practices, and international cooperation in the trademark industry. ECTA was founded in 1980, and in forty years it has become an expert body of EU and national decision-makers, European Council Presidencies, and the European Courts of Justice and international intellectual property organisations. ECTA has raised its members’ voice on questions such as the protection and use of trademarks, designs and domain names and related rights, such as copyright, geographical indications, or unfair competition in the European Union. ECTA represents the common opinion of the European intellectual property community.

Jani Kaulo is a member of ECTA's Supervisory Board and International Trade Committee

Jani Kaulo has held fiduciary positions at ECTA since 2018: as a member of the China Task Force in 2018-2020, as a member of ECTA's Supervisory Board since 2019, and as a member of the International Trade Committee since 2020. In these roles, he actively defends the interests of brand owners. As a member of the International Trade Committee, he also closely follows the trade negotiations between the EU and third countries, from the scope of intellectual property, and bring forward ECTA's and brand owners' views on the negotiations.

The work of the China Task Force continues in the Committee on International Trade and is still one of the Committee's priority areas.

"Recently, there has been a clear positive development in China on the IPR front in that there have been fewer trademark hijackings than before. We hope that it is not just a temporary decrease caused by the corona pandemic, but a result of the improvements made to the legislation and their effect on the practical level in the bodies that apply the law."

The closing dinner of the ECTA conference was impressive and will surely be remembered by the participants. Copenhagen showed its expertise as an event organizer to the international audience