In 2024, we organised 25 awareness-raising events on intellectual property for entrepreneurs, creative people and authors, attended by a total of 1,170 participants. 13 events were held on site and 12 virtually.
The largest event of the year was the conference marking the 105th anniversary of the Patent Office, titled “Intellectual Property and Sustainability”, which brought together professionals from the field, technology transfer experts and valued cooperation partners from Estonia and abroad.
In the field of trade marks, two traditional webinars were held, offering participants advice on choosing and protecting a strong trade mark. Trade mark-related topics were also in focus at the Tallinn Entrepreneurship Day in autumn, where we spoke to participants about the trade mark as a brand’s insurance policy.
Photo: Patent Office
We introduced the options for protecting product design in two webinars. Two webinars were also held in the field of inventions, where we examined the protection of inventions in Estonia and abroad in closer detail. In addition to the above, we took part in the Great Inventors’ Festival for the first time, where we invited children to invent smartly.
Undoubtedly, the most popular events have been the copyright seminars. Two webinars were held during the year, covering topics such as the correct use of photographs and the protection of musical works. On the occasion of the Copyright Day, we introduced the work of the Copyright Committee at the RaRa Seminar and participated in the summer school of the Estonian Theatre Agency, where we spoke about AI and copyright.
Intellectual Property Day was dedicated to the broader theme of intellectual property – participants had the chance to test themselves in a trade mark quiz and gain useful insights at a webinar, where patent attorney Anna Kosar and Kristjan Lind, CEO of Bikeep, shared practical tips.
In cooperation with educational institutions, we organised seminars for students of Tõnismäe State Gymnasium and the Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences. We also paid special attention to student inventors and student companies, introducing them to the importance of protecting their intellectual property in cooperation with the Estonian Research Council and Junior Achievement Estonia.
As part of the traditional visit of the Board of Appeal of EUIPO, we organised another seminar for the practitioners in the field of intellectual property, discussing recent decisions and exchanging experiences. Close cooperation with EUIPO continued in supporting businesses through the SME Fund, under which we began offering Estonian companies two new services: IP Scan and IP Scan Enforcement. We also held the Ideas Powered for Business Seminar in cooperation with EUIPO.
We awarded the special prize of the Patent Office and WIPO at the National Contest of Young Inventors in cooperation with the WIPO – the contest was won by Johannes Amann, a first grade student of Saku Gymnasium for his invention ‘illuminated mechanic’s gloves’.
One new form of cooperation was a seminar for educational technology companies, organised in collaboration with EdTech Estonia.
Meetings with patent attorneys were held in the spring and autumn round tables, which also included participation from the Ministry of Justice.
