Regions & Cities: The EU Agencies Race

Five kilometres north of Alicante airport in
Spain is the EU's Intellectual Property
Along the coastline, the EUIPO building offers
a panoramic view of the Mediterranean Sea.
Presently, there are roadworks which make for stop-
city. But once completed, a new bicycle lane will be
in place, connecting Alicante and the EU agency.
EUIPO, currently the largest EU agency in terms
of staff (913), is responsible for trademark and
design registrations in the EU. It issues titles,
which are applications for trademarks that have
been registered and accepted, that are valid in all
EU countries, a market of more than 500 million
consumers - at least until the UK leaves.
The EUIPO building has an imposing facade of
glass and concrete, but on the inside it is bright
and full of open space. The exterior hosts plenty of
green areas, and the view is only disrupted by the
which is set to accommodate the learning centre
and the European Observatory on Infringements of
Intellectual Property Rights by October 2017.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FOOTPRINT
Antonio Campinos, the executive director of EUIPO,
once stated that 42 percent of the economic
activity and a third of all jobs in Europe depend on
companies that make extensive use of industrial
and intellectual property rights. But what is the
socio-economic footprint left by the agency itself in
the Spanish region where it is based?
€376 million.
Photo: Leaie
REGIONS & CITIES OCTOBER 2017— 29