Twinning between the SPTO and the Egyptian Patent Office (EGPO)

On January 5, 2020, started a twinning project with Egypt led by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, (SPTO) under the title “Supporting and upgrading the institutional, technical and raising awareness capabilities of the Egyptian Patent Office” in which the European Commission fully finances all project activities.

Together with the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), the SPTO, the project leader, aims to support and improve the technical, institutional and visibility capabilities of the Egyptian Patent Office (EGPO). It has an expected duration of twenty-four months and a budget of 1,500,000 euros.

The Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) and the German International Legal Cooperation Foundation (IRZ) accompany this project as junior partners. The project is articulated through 5 components:

• Component 1: Establishment of a strategic IP Plan. for scientific research in Egypt.
• Component 2: Sustainable cooperation and coordination with rights holders and with companies and SMEs established within an institutional approach.
• Component 3: EGPO systems and procedures reviewed and updated in accordance with EU standards.
• Component 4: Contribution to the strengthening of patent processing and information dissemination skills of EGPO staff.
• Component 5: Training and organizational skills of EGPO staff.

The components correspond to the expected results of the project and, throughout the project, a series of activities have been scheduled including: workshops, training sessions, expert missions, study visits and advice. For the execution of all planned activities, short missions are planned by moving to the Egyptian Patent Office of experts from the SPTO as well as the associated institutions, in various fields related to the programmed activities.

Twinning (Twinning in English) is an instrument of the European Union for institutional cooperation between the Public Administrations of the EU Member States and the beneficiary or partner countries, and which began operating in 1998. Also since then the International Foundation and for Ibero-America of Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) it is the Spanish entity that is in charge of managing this type of projects with European funding.

Since 2004, the twinning instrument is also available for some of the neighboring EU partner countries. This framework aims to improve the administrative capacities of the public administration of an associated country, through the training of its staff and support for the reorganization of its structure. It also supports the approximation of national laws, regulations and quality standards to those of the EU Member States within the framework of cooperation or association agreements signed with the EU.

Twinning projects bring together the public sector experience of EU Member States and beneficiary countries with the objective of achieving concrete operational results through peer activities.