Hungarian Association
for the Protection of
Industrial Property and Copyright

The above Association - well-known by its short name MIE figuring also in its emblem - was established in 1962 under the name Hungarian Association for the Protection of Industrial Property. It got its completed name - in accordance with its present, enlarged field of activity - by approval of the festive general meeting held in celebration of the 100 years anniversary of the Hungarian Patent Office's foundation. The completion to MIE's former name is reflecting well the situation shaped out in the international and national practice according to which industrial property protection and that of copyrights turned out to be legal fields assuring complex protection of intellectual property in some cases in a parallel way, completing each-other, while in a great number of cases covering each-other at least partially and assimilated to each-other whithin the domain of the protection, so they developed to create equivalent and comparable partial areas of the law of industrial property protection.
MIE is a social organization modified as of the Law II of 1989, registered by the Metropolitan Court which - according to its Deed of Foundation - it is independent of the parties, it does not pursue a political activity, does not support parties, neither receives, nor accepts a support of them. After the considerable change of the participants of business life MIE has at present 200 lawyer- and 1000 individual members who are activating, using and applying the legal system of means and of institutions serving for the protection of intellectual work. Further members are professionals essentially of technical, legal and economical education dealing with the utilization and sale of intellectual works.

Our aims and duties

MIE's aim is to study scientifically and practically the questions connected with the creation, protection and utilization of technical-intellectual works, in addition to cultivate and diffuse culture of industrial property protection, to make acquainted with the pertaining knowledge, to support spreading of intellectual works, promotion of the creative activity and of the technical-economical development, as well as of the innovative way of looking and shaping out innovative practice with professional and social means.

Our Basic Activity

Especially for the legal protection of technical -intellectual works MIE has elaborated a great number of evaluations and suggestions with the view that lawmaking and legal practice be developed and maintains this activity continuously also nowadays. In the interest that the culture of industrial property rights be spread it activates and where possibility offers it helps through its members and by its personal intermediary teaching of intelelctual property rights and their protection in secondary- and high schools already on a basic level with good results. Organization of lectures, Debate-Sessions, Conferences, professional travels, editing of publications and their dissemination, maintenance of a Professional Library, and with the supporting means of the „Foundation for the Culture of Industrial Property Protection" - that came into existence on its own initiative and with its considerable material contribution - the Association has established a forum with the main duty to serve as an organ for the further-education of the experts dealing with the protection of intellectual property rights. This is an important workshop where the theoretical and practical problems of the national industrial property protection can be discussed and analyzed. By the elaboration of expert-opinions and their submission MIE has continuously participated in the activity of lawmaking, aiming at the modernization of the legal regulations being in force and serving to law-harmonization, which was especially characteristic for the activity of lawmaking in the past years. In the course thereof and by watching the shaping out of the legal practice it continuously pays attention that the interest of the creators should prevail and it initiates by its panels to eliminate the reasons and to stop the practice violating these interests or hindering that legal regulations should prevail.

Our Services

MIE considers to be essential to give professional support to its members being privat persons and legal entities. It offers its assistance and declares its readiness to participate in shaping out the conception of technical development of undertakings and in the course of the realization thereof to build-up a defence strategy with means of the law of industrial property protection (e.g. examination whether the concept is legally cleared, with measures of trademark-politics and with other activities to acquire rights in the domain of strategy, or tactics). Should debates arise in the domain of industrial property protection - to prevent law-suits - on grounds of an order given for a special case, or on grounds of a request we undertake to act as expert, or as a professional arbitrator. Through our experts having a professional experience we participate in the information- and consulting- service-system of the Chamber of Commerce and the Chambers of Industry for undertakers and on grounds of agreements we provide them with informative material and publications. MIE gives support that intellectual works and the adhering proprietary rights be properly evaluated in case that an undertaking is transformed, at the foundation of a company, or should it be sold, liquidated , or terminated.

On grounds of a mandate the experts of MIE are ready to undertake to compile the regulations regarding innovations-inventions, to put at disposal methodic materials , or to tell their expert-opinion regarding such materials. On request we make a lecture and consultation on the spot in subject-matters suggested by our legal members. In certain cases we undertake professional and legal consultation, too. If elaboration of individual expertises is needed, the Association puts the list of the names and addresses of its experts in the field of industrial property protection at the disposal of its lawyer-members. MIE gives in general a discount to the participants delegated or supported by its legal member-undertakings, or to its individual members especially if they participate on its organizations, especially on professional conferences, study-travels and to their further vocational training.

Life , Publiacations, Events organized by the Association

The different Sections activited by MIE at present are: “Invention-Patent”, “Innovation”, “Trademark”, “Agriculture”, “Copyright” and “Competition right”. In the enumerated Sections and in some of MIE's active local organizations, too, lectures are hold by acknowledged experts of the branch on actual topics, followed by professional consultations and debates for which great intereset is shown - according to experience.

On the local organizations and that of the section, further on the events and of the news being of importance to our professional branch MIE is sending monthly appearing News-Letters to its individual- and legal entity-members. So they are informed of the programs in advance. Another periodical is the MIE-Gazette edited and sent to MIE-members depending on the requirements and on the possibilities. It contains publications of national and international experts on topics susceptible to be of common interest with regard to the professional news dealt therein and giving a good survey on the worldwide situation.

For its retired members “The Circle of MIE-Seniors” organizes one times every year a professional excursion free of charges which is generally a visit to the mills of one of our legal partners completed with a friendly conversation and talks.

For educational purposes and for further vocational training we have shaped out a well-functioning system activated with success since years for members of our Association and for „outer" experts showing interest for central topics having actuality. The characteristic features thereof are that the events are organized for more days, in a boarding system, against payment.
Every year in May the so called “Spring Conference” used to be organized. The topics are chosen for patent attorneys representing clients, for experts working at the Hungarian Patent Office and at the Courts - this being a smaller stratum of the people showing interest.

Contrary to this on the “Autumn Conference” the essential topics dealt with concern legal protection of the economy and of intellectual works, business competition and legal norms relating to unfair market conduct, further tax-policy. It appears thereof that this is a larger stratum of the participants showing interest for the above questions.The papers presented on the conference and the subject matters under debate are all dealing with the modified legal regulations, as well as with the up-to-date questions affected recently by legal practice. This very popular conference organized by MIE for more days offers a goods occasion - in addition to that professional knowledge is enlarged - that the participants get acquainted with each-other personally under unformal circumstances and experience shows that it has contributed that the work-relation between the experts of the branch not only improved, but had also the result that a great number of new work-relations came into existence.

Partly connected with these events, but also apart from this MIE is organizing regularly professional study-travels abroad. These travels are generally connected with exhibitions and fairs displaying inventions, transfer of technology, innovations and in some cases they make possible to the participants to get acquainted with the institution for the protection of industrial property of the country concerned.

Our national and international relations

In the course of its above activity and fulfillement of its responsibilities MIE is cooperating with a great number of state and social organs and organizations. Without giving a taxative enumeration - these are: especially the Hungarian Patent Office, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, the Ministry of Justice, and other Ministry's of special Branche. MIE it is a member to MTESZ and maintains a relation with its local organs and member-assosiations, further with the Hungarian Group of AIPPI, with the Hungarian Faculty of LES, with the Chamber of the Hungarian Patent Attorneys, with the Hungarian Trademark Association, with the Hungarian Confederation for Innovations, with the Association of the Hungarian Inventors, as well as with the central, local and professional Chambers, with some foundations cultivating and supporting the technical-intellectual creative activity, among them first of all with the NOVOFER Foundation.

MIE has widespread relations also abroad. Every three years an international conference is organized in common with AIPPI's Hungarian Group in Budapest, being very popular among the foreign participants, too. The lecturers are internationally known and acknowledged national and foreign professional experts. Ten AIPPI-MIE Conferences happened to be so far, so this created already a tradition obliging us to continue to organize these events without interruption also in the future.

Our Financial Sources and our Management

MIE's financial sources originate of the membership-contributions of privat persons and of the contributions of legal entities, from the subvention awarded yearly and regularly by the Hungarian Patent Office with regard to the utilization planned by MIE, - earlier it got a subvention of the State's Budget to be applied for in every case ( which nowadays practically ceased to exist) - the modest difference between the income and expenditure of the afore mentioned events organized by MIE and of the interests being the yield of the investments originating of the accumulated savings resulting of the equally afore mentioned international conferences organized every three years. The membership contribution of our individual members is 800.-Ft yearly ( from our retired members in pension we request only a symbolic amount of 100.-Ft yearly)
Our legal entity members contribution ranges between an average of 20.000.- Ft up to 200.000.- Ft yearly depending on their possibilities and readiness. For lack of other sources all these are far from it to cover our increasing costs of maintenance and operation. This is why MIE is organizing its conferences, lectures and other professional programs with the help and intermediary of Professionals who do their work voluntarily, free of charge.
We endeavour to hold the expenses in modest limits, because we can maintain the level expected by our members only with a circumspect, careful and conscious management

Our Idea of the Future

Our slogan is confidence and we wish to contribute to the quick upswung of the home economy by our available means and intellect in consequence of which we expect that intellectual property protection gets again a higher value, becomes more vivid and will be more completed. At present the specific means to achieve this aim are to make acquainted with this professional field and with its means on different levels and its teaching. We display a continuous activity and as a next step we intend not only to make up-to-date the brochure prepared already earlier for undertakers containing educational topics - but also to find out more effective channels for its distribution. We must search and find relations to the educational institutions of the active economy in charge of teaching managers and to the organs in charge of organizing such courses. We must trace the existing undertakings of the civil sphere working in this field and the institutions maintained by the state administration in this domain, too. A publication should be elaborated to be used for educational purposes to teach managers in the subject-matter of the own exclusive rights and which active and passive role such rights of the rivals may play - especially wich are the advantages and which dangers they may entail for the participants of the market. In addition to formulate the tasks belonging to the field of education and teaching as well as to their realization - a wider publicity should be made for the industrial property protection in general . Within this to make acquainted with the work performed by MIE, to make a publicity for its available editions and for those that will appear in the future and to the events that will be organized . For this purpose stronger and more active relations are to be established with the media (ie . radio, television, newspapers) further with the Professional Member Associations of MTESZ by offering our readiness to a more active co-operation.

As another complex task we must try to find out how good relations could be established and activated with those who would be potentional users of the complex means of industrial property protection. For this purpose personal contacts should be established more intensively with the different economic and professional chambers, providing them also with education material of high level.

Another duty would be to maintain regular relations with our legal members and to be at service to our legal members at a high level.

The most vital task is in addition to enlarge the field of those who are ready to participe in the execution of the enumerated responsibilities, further to trace methodically those who are ready to work for the Association.

Would you join us?

As we have tried to outline, we can furnish services, nevertheless we have still a lot to do. The Hungarian Association for the Protection of Industrial Property and Copyright is pleased to welcome everyone among its members showing interest. Joining our Association as an individual, or legal member is open to everybody. Our Secretariat will be pleased to give a further detailed information on the minimum conditions of the entry and of the services rendered by MIE.

For more information please contact:

the Secretariat of
The Hungarian Association for the Protection of Industrial Property
H-1055 Budapest, Kossuth Lajos tér 6-8
Phone: 153-1661
Fax (and answerphone): (36-1) 153-1780