The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has launched a new forum designed to encourage the development of cutting edge technological solutions to combat counterfeiting.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Blockathon Forum will be built on blockchain technology. It follows last year’s successful “Blockathon” coding competition run jointly in Brussels by the EUIPO and the European Commission.
The Forum is linked to the EU Blockchain Observatory, which is designed to reinforce European engagement with stakeholders involved in blockchain activities.
The Executive Director of the EUIPO, Christian Archambeau, said that the Blockathon had brought the public and private sectors together with coding teams to try and make “on-the-spot” progress in developing innovative solutions in the area of supply chain management.
He called on private sector organisations, and all interested individuals to join the anti- counterfeiting forum to build on the encouraging results of the Blockathon and help develop and test solutions that would successfully combat the “global plague” of counterfeiting.
“In today’s fast moving world, we need to use the latest technology to keep a reliable record of the origin of goods and their progress through international supply chains. Blockchain’s ability to create permanent and unchangeable records makes it one of the best candidates to deliver results on the ground”, he added.
The forum was unveiled by the Director General of DG Grow, Lowri Evans, at a major Industry Days event in Brussels.
