Counterfeiting and piracy have entered the gambling industry 631s63

The third edition of the Regional International Conference “Intellectual Property (IP) in the Digital Economy for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SMEs) Conference IP and Interactive Entertainment” shall be held in Bucharest between October 24th – 25th! 412a15

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Mr. Marius Pantea, PhD, has recently started doing business the private sector by founding his own Law Office, but has remained within the gambling area. The experience he has gained in this field (Director of the General Directorate for Gambling Authorization within the National Office for Gambling (ONJN), and then General Manager of the largest gambling company in our country, Loteria Română) makes him one of the most sought after specialists on Romania’s traditional and remote gambling market.

Marius Pantea

What are your plans in the near future?

Thank you for the opportunity to present a few of our future projects. First of all, we became actively involved in organizing the third edition of the Regional International Conference „Intellectual Property (IP) in the Digital Economy for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SMEs) Conference IP and Interactive Entertainment” , sponsored by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in collaboration with the Romanian Copyright Office (ORDA), the Romanian State Office for Inventions and Trademarks and the Romanian-American University.

The discussions previously held with the representatives of WIPO and the management of ORDA, and I wish to take this opportunity to thank the General Director of ORDA, Doru Paunescu, have made it possible for this year’s conference to have the following theme: „IP and Interactive Entertainment – video games and legal gambling”, which shall allow us to discuss incredibly sensitive matters in the field of intellectual property rights applicable in the field of gambling, at national and global level, as a primary component of the entertainment industry, which also includes computer games (or video games).

When will the conference take place and where?

It shall be held in Bucharest between October 24th and 25th, 2018, with the help of the Dean of the Faculty of Law within the Romanian-American University, Mrs. Mihaela Pruna, PhD Associate Professor, in the Hall of the Senate, made available to us by the management of the educational establishment. I have to emphasize that the University was actively involved in the previous editions as well, and the organization of such an event within a prestigious higher learning institution allows the event to be of a higher level, by means of the participation of personalities from the national academic environment (the previous edition had the privilege of hosting the honorable PhD Viorel Ros and other famous academicians).

What is the link between intellectual property rights and gambling?

I have to it that “my first love” was intellectual property. As an operative officer (field officer) for the Economic Police (now known as Economic Crime Investigation) and then as a professor at the “A.I. Cuza” Police Academy in Bucharest, my main concern was to prevent and fight against piracy and counterfeiting, to study the phenomenon and to identify certain legislative and practical solutions which shall diminish this calamity of the present globalized world.

Of course there is a link between the two industries, the gambling industry and the industry dealing with intellectual property rights, if we take into consideration the fact that all landbased and online gambling operators use computer software. Moreover, the industrial trademarks, drawings and models are other goods specific to industrial property that gambling operators are familiar with and that are successfully used in the gambling industry. It is important to know that even the protection of integrated circuit topography (semi-conductor pro­ducts) is relevant for the game producers (es­pecially slot machine producers) and not lastly, the matters relating to unfair com­petition.

How can the illegal practices in the field of intellectual property rights affect the gam­bling operators?

Counterfeiting and piracy have entered the gambling industry. It is a known fact that counterfeit software has been launched on the Romanian market, which can affect both the gambling organizer and the player by offering the possibility to manipulate the computer software to the detriment of one or the other, which implies major prejudices for the operator or the player and implicitly the state budget.

Furthermore, there have been and there still are counterfeit industrial trademarks, drawings and models on the market, which mislead players and prejudice the holders of such rights. This type of illegal activity only misleads s with regards to the type of game used by the slot machine and deceives with regards to the winnings possibilities.

With regards to remote games, the use pirated software may allow for the alteration of game results, the change of the amounts won, either by the operator or by the player, the change of the data stored on servers and other such activities, and in the field of industrial property rights, among other things, the use of certain famous trademarks may mislead the player.

Who will attend the Conference?

Right now, we have confirmed as partners the National Office for Gambling, re­presented by its president Mr. Sebastian Ionescu, CN Loteria Românã SA (Romanian Lottery), represented by General Manager Ovidiu Por­tariuc, the representatives of the associations involved in traditional and remote gambling, and I wish to take advantage of this opportunity to thank Mr. Adrian Georgescu for his involvement in this event.

Finally, I thank to the Gambling Industry Associations for interest and and the people who have been involved in this action, and about the projects we will inform early on the themes of interest in gambling.A 3-a ediție a Conferinței internaționale regionale „Intellectual Property (IP) in the Digital Economy for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SMEs) Conference IP and Interactive Entertainment” va avea loc la Bucureşti în perioada 24-25 octombrie!