Message of Greeting to the Eurasian Patent Office from the President of the Hungarian Patent Office

Dear Mr. President,

It is a great honour and pleasure for me that on behalf of the Republic of Hungary and in the name of the management and the officials of the Hungarian Patent Office I can express my sincere appreciation and congratulations to the Member Stales of the Eurasian Patent Organization, to the Eurasian Patent Office and to you personally on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the EAPO.

The ten years that have elapsed since the establishment of the Eurasian Patent Organization have proved that the Eurasian Patent Convention successfully serves its purpose, which is to operate a regional patent system and to strengthen the co¬operation of the participating countries in that field. According to the well-known impressive statistics, in 2004 the EAPO received 1630 patent applications, that is the number has risen more than tenfold from 1 ] 8 of the first year and by almost 23% compared with 2003. This bears witness to the growing attractiveness and effectiveness of the Eurasian patent procedure. I strongly believe that the Eurasian patent system will be further strengthened and will continue to work for the benefit of the whole industrial property community.

It is clear that industrial property protection can play its proper role through the concerted contribution by national and regional institutions. We have to make every effort that awareness of these systems be enhanced among the public at large. Therefore the Hungarian Patent Office wishes the International Conference on “Worldwide Patent System: Current State and Trends for Future Development” all success.

Dr. Miklós Bendzsel