International Partnerships

The Danish Patent and Trademark Office cooperates in partnerships with offices outside the EU. The objective of these partnerships is to exchange best practices on protection and enforcement of IPR and to support the partners in enhancing their capacity along this domain. A well-functioning IP infrastructure will benefit companies in the partner country as well as Danish companies active on the selected markets.

Key competencies

Each partnership has its own priorities and each partner its preferred fields of cooperation. Many of the partnerships target both issues relating to our core competencies as an IP office as well as issues outside the scope of our statutory tasks. Over the past 20 years we have worked in international partnerships. We have a demonstrated capacity in meeting the requirements of the partner even when they fall outside the scope of the work at the Danish Patent and Trademark Office.

Inter-ministerial cooperation on IP enforcement

For the IP infrastructure to be fully functional it is necessary that both protection and enforcement is properly handled by all IP active authorities. Often only limited resources are allocated to combat IP crime. Well-developed inter-institutional cooperation and regular dialogue between the IP active authorities ensure a common approach and ascertains that the resources allocated are used in an efficient manner. Denmark established an inter-ministerial network 10 years ago and the Danish experience has inspired partners in Croatia and Serbia to set up similar structures.

Training of IP examiners, police, customs

Exchange of best practices among IP practitioners has proven valuable, whether it is through discussing specific cases, patent examination practices, common examination of cargo documents with customs or joint operational raids at notorious markets with police officials and market inspectors. Officials from partner countries are introduced to our best practice, enabling them to implement relevant elements in their respective countries. Through these tailored training sessions, we build lasting relationships between experts, where both parties benefit. Training activities have been a mandatory element in all our partnerships.

Compliance of national IP legislation to international standards

Several of our partners have been countries in pre-accession to the European Union. For these countries alignment to European standards has been a requirement for future EU membership. In Serbia, we have conducted a compliance check of the IP legislation and provided recommendations on how to amend the legislation in order to meet the requirements of the EU. In other countries, our experts have assessed the compliance of the national legislation with the requirements of TRIPS and provided recommendations for obtaining compliance. In Iran, we have supported our partners in aligning the copyright legislation to make it TRIPS compliant.

Awareness raising strategies and campaigns

Raising awareness on the importance of protecting IP is vital. Companies failing to protect their IP risk infringement. Having your rights infringed can have severe implications on your earnings. Informing consumers on the implications of purchasing counterfeited products and providing guidance on how to avoid doing so is of high importance. We have previously supported partners in Brazil and India with developing awareness materials and campaigns for small and medium sized enterprises. In Serbia, we launched an awareness campaign targeting consumers to enhance the understanding of purchasing counterfeited goods.

Commercialising of IP

It is important that framework conditions for commercialization of IP are suited to foster innovation and green growth. In particular, strengthening the IP commercialization ecosystems is crucial for IP led growth.  In India, we work with our partners on promoting commercialisation of IPR. In Egypt we have supported the national patent office in establishing an IP Strategic plan for scientific research institutions and technical universities across the country.

How to partner with us

We are always interested in exploring the possibility of establishing new partnerships with offices outside the EU and encourage potential partners to approach us directly. 

We have a pragmatic dialogue-oriented approach. Our overall objective is always to develop workplans of relevance to the partners. When establishing partnerships, we are highly receptive to the requirements and needs expressed by our partners. It is vital to us and to our experts that what we provide through our partnerships is relevant and generates an added value for the partner institution.

Once we have established a common understanding of the potential areas of cooperation, we look into the possibilities for obtaining external funding for the cooperation. If you are interested in knowing more about our international partnerships or you want to explore the possibilities of establishing a partnership with us you can contact:

Mogens Baltsen
Head of Department,
International Projects

+45 2556 2913

Donors supporting the partnerships

The international partnerships with non-EU countries are donor funded either bilaterally through the Strategic Sector Cooperation Program funded by the Danish Foreign Ministry or through the Twinning program which is funded by the EU. Common to these programs is that they support government to government cooperation initiatives.

Our network of experts

To properly engage in partnerships which addresses both protection and enforcement of IPR we have established an extensive network of external professionals specialised in certain areas we do not have in-house. Our network embraces police officers, customs officials, prosecutors, judges and copyright experts all specialised in IPR.