Minister Grabar-Kitarović participated at the 9th Meeting of the National Forum on the Accession to the European Union on the subject of

Inaugurating the 9th Meeting of the National Forum, Minister Grabar-Kitarović spoke about intellectual property violation, illustrating the topic with examples from the growing development of pirating technologies or unauthorized use of trademarks, and also about Croatian laws on intellectual property which are compliant to EU laws and regulations to a very high degree, Minister said. Notwithstanding these facts, the Croatian Government, but the society as a whole as well, must effectively respond to all remaining challenges in the area of enhancing administrative capacities and heightening public awareness, said the Minister and added that the Republic of Croatia was ready to realize full implementation of the Chapter on Intellectual Property before joining the EU. She especially highlighted the importance of innovation, encouraging human creativity and contributions to the "knowledge economy".

Deputy Director of the State Intellectual Property Office Romana Matanovac briefly introduced the most relevant segments in the field of intellectual property, as author’s rights and the alike rights, industrial property rights – patent, trademark, industrial design and labels of authenticity. She stressed that the biggest challenge was the application of rights related to intellectual property and the collaboration between national administrative organizations and private subjects in charge of protecting the mentioned rights, both in Croatia and EU member states and wider.

Participants in the discussion, who were very actively engaged in the activities of the National Forum, stressed that the key issue was the collective protection of intellectual property as one of the forces behind economical growth of a society. On several occasions during the debate, it was emphasized that in was in the interest of scientific development, research and protection of national cultural heritage to ensure the strictest possible protection of bearers of the author’s rights.

During the debate, the need to create a positive climate for innovations and investing into innovation in order to contribute to Croatian economical growth was especially emphasized. Representatives of companies which protect intellectual properties effectively and associations engaged in diverse aspects of protecting these rights have underlined the challenges they face in daily work, their experiences and examples from practice which confirm that great importance not only of a good legal framework in the field of intellectual property, but also of the awareness of intellectual property as a right which must be protected.

The issues of the need to educate and inform all the factors involved in the process (judges, lawyers, advisors, customs officers, and the wide public and citizens) on the importance of intellectual property so as to make the process of protection all-encompassing and effective were also discussed. The participants in the debate also discussed the legal conditions of intellectual property protection, the status and the role of courts, State Attorney's Office and State Inspector's Office in charge of protecting intellectual property. During the debate, special attention was given to the issue of significance of the industrial design, the issue of recognizable trademarks which ensure identification of the product and service origin, as well as to the need to distinguish between cultural goods and other types of goods. In the context of cultural goods, it was said that it was necessary to measure their value not by economic or market-competitive standards but the value guaranteeing the preservation of national and cultural identity in the light of accession to the EU, which cherishes and encourages cultural diversity among its member states.