(TAP)- The protection of intellectual property helps fight counterfeiting and ease access to international markets, said Patent Examiner and Deputy Director of Innovation at the National Institute of Standardisation and Industrial Property (French: INNORPI) Saida Ben Achour. This in addition to value and intangible capital creation.

The protection of intellectual property also helps enterprises make the most of their creations and increase their credibility, Achour told participants in the Euro-Mediterranean conference on intellectual property and innovation 'Challenges for SMEs and New Entrepreneurs on the World Market.'

Tunisia is a founding member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property adopted in 1883, the official said. It also joined international treaties, including the Patent Cooperation Treaty (December 2001), the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, (October 2013) and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (June 2012).

Ben Achour also said patents in Tunisia are issued for new inventions involving an inventive step susceptible of industrial application.

CCIT Vice-President Najeh Ben Abdesslam presented the IPMED project relating to 'building the capacities of intellectual property for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in the Mediterranean region.' The project is funded by the Mediterranean Cross-border Cooperation Programme as part of the neighbourhood policy.

Launched in 2019, this project aims to contribute to the development of intellectual property for startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and female entrepreneurs and capacity building for actors who value start-ups.

'Intellectual property means the protection of an idea or an invention to foster an environment conducive to innovation and the dissemination of creative works as well as their promotion in the public interest,' Ben Abdesslam said.

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