European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property … · 2014-10-17 · jobs and almost 39% of the EU’s GDP. This is the positive side, however, we also know from the

Intellectual Property is no longer something that is the exclusive concern of lawyers or other experts: some of its aspects such as piracy or fakes are debated by parents and children, stu-dents, professionals of all kinds, the employed and the unemployed, politicians, academics, and society in general. But while there is a debate, we need to ask if that de-bate is always taking place in the context of “facts and evidence”, and if the role of IP is really understood.

We know from the first major study published by OHIM through the Observatory, in partnership with the EPO, the importance to the economy of Intellectual Property Rights. This study, “Intellectual Property Rights intensive indus-tries: contribution to economic performance and employment in Europe”, found that IPR-intensive industries support directly or indirectly 35% of jobs and almost 39% of the EU’s GDP.

This is the positive side, however, we also

know from the second study on the attitudes to Intellectual Property, “European Citizens and Intel-lectual Property: Perception, Awareness and Be-haviour”, that not everyone is enthusiastic about the role of Intellectual Property.

The perception study showed that while 96% of EU citizens say that Intellectual Property

Rights support innovation and creativity, more than one-third think that buying

counterfeit goods can be a “smart purchase” or an “act of protest” against big business. Even more believe that illegal downloading is acceptable in certain circumstanc-

es, with 57% of 15-24 year olds jus-tifying downloading for personal use.

In general the study showed that young people are more prepared to question the

existing rules, and that few citizens see Intellectual Property Rights as benefiting them personally.

This dichotomy is surprising and certainly dis-turbing, but it also tells us the areas in which we need to focus our efforts by engaging with young people in particular and showing that IP rights

European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights Newsletter

Editorial

Table of contents

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News from Brussels and BeyondEvent Calendar

Stakeholders NewsA busy whirl of Events

Academy News Latest NewsAdvisory BoardEditorial

Welcome to the third edition of the Observatory’s newsletter. As OHIM enters its 20th year, marking the opening of its doors to the IP world in Alicante in September 1994, it is a good time to reflect on the many changes that have taken place over these two decades, and on the role that Observatory is playing in that changing IP landscape.

Tools News

Issue 3 — September / October 2014

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are not just for big businesses, but are also of vital importance to SMEs.

This is why OHIM, through the Observatory, is now building on the economic impact study, extending it to the firm level, in order to capture the important influence of IP on SMEs, who are the lifeblood of any economy. The evolution of their IP experience and use of IP will be closely monitored through an annual study on SMEs called the IP SME Scoreboard, which is being prepared with DG ENTR. This will allow us to gather important information from those directly involved, and who know best what needs to be done to improve the IPR frame-work for SMEs.

A similar IP Youth scoreboard will annually assess the experience of young people with IP, pro-viding information on how to design appropriate actions and the right policies. There will also be an analysis of IP and education, exploring how IP and the related themes of creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation are taught in primary and second-ary schools, and comparing this with the most inno-vative countries outside of the EU. This will help us assess where improvements can be made and how the Observatory could help in the process.

In addition, 2015 will see the development of an important study, in partnership with the OECD, on the economic cost of IP infringements. This study will set out to quantify the economic dam-age caused by infringement. It will be carried out in parallel to a study on piracy in the digital domain that we will be working on with the Joint Research Centre, and some further studies of our own in the area of counterfeiting.

These studies will set out to show the number of jobs that are not created and the amount of GDP that is lost because of counterfeiting and piracy. One of the aims will be to try to quantify the lost revenue to legitimate businesses and the cost of protection incurred by the private sector. They will also try to measure the lost tax revenue to gov-ernments and the cost of protecting rights by the customs, police, and judicial system.


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Meanwhile, as we learn more about the role and impact of Intellectual Property Rights on so-ciety and the economy, these rights are evolving and appear to be entering a period of significant change.

For trade marks we await the outcome of the negotiations between the Commission, the Council and the Parliament on the Trade Mark Package. There is also a Commission proposal in the area of the protection of Trade Secrets, on which the Council agreed its approach in May this year. And in July, the Commission launched a green paper on whether to extend Geographical Indications to non-agricultural products. This would be aimed at protecting traditional knowledge and produc-tion methods associated with products ranging from Scottish tartans to Sheffield steel or Carrara marble.

At the EU level we can see in the proposed new College of Commissioners that many of the responsibilities related to economic and business portfolios, the Internet, innovation and Intellectual Property have been reorganised to meet future challenges.

The structure of the New College, which is awaiting confirmation by the Council and the Parlia-ment, involves flexible teams of Commissioners focused on particular challenges, and is both inno-vative and forward-looking.

The President elect of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has already stimulated discussion in the digital arena by putting forward some in-teresting proposals in the ten-point plan which he presented to the European Parliament. As regards copyright, Mr Juncker proposes modernising the rules “in the light of the digital revolution”. Fur-ther details are needed, but this raises interesting questions about whether we may someday move towards an EU copyright, just as we now have an EU trade mark, an EU design and progress towards a unitary patent.

Members of the Observatory Network are certainly aware of the complexities in this area and of what is at stake. It is also clear that the Observatory is well placed to provide research that will bring perspective to the challenges and opportunities faced by our policymakers.

As OHIM takes its first steps into its third decade of existence, it is clear that the compre-hensive, inclusive and balanced input of the Ob-servatory Network will be a vital resource to help policymakers, and society as a whole, make sense of the changes ahead.

António Campinos President OHIM


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Advisory Board

Many businesses have understandable con-cerns about the threat posed by the enormity of

counterfeit goods being made available on platforms online.

Behind these platforms ex-ists a complicated, inter-connected intermediary network consisting of sites, marketplaces, portals, infra-structure providers, search providers, online advertisers

and payment providers. All of these intermediaries share a

degree of responsibility, alongside rights hold-ers themselves, to promote a secure, stable and trusted Internet.

There has historically been a lack of a uniform, effec-tive and effi-cient means of redress against individuals or intermediaries connected with the sale of coun-terfeit goods online. It is for this reason that many brands have explored a toolkit approach to their enforce-ment strategy, which consists of a number of different approaches and mechanisms to deal effectively with the significant threat and damage to its business caused by counterfeit goods being sold online. One such approach has been though voluntary collaboration with intermediaries, and in particular online marketplaces. Voluntary col-laboration works where both the rights holder and the intermediary are able to recognize that there needs to be a fair balance between the respective rights and interests of both parties.

As part of this balance, we have always firmly believed that intermediaries should not bear the sole responsibility of monitoring unlawful activ-ity. It is for this reason the “Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Sale of Counterfeit Goods” signed in 2011, which established a code of best practice between rights holders and over thirty e-commerce platforms, including eBay and Amazon, is such a valuable tool.

Since 2011, we have continued to collaborate with intermediaries and feel that voluntary col-laboration should remain a core part of any com-pany’s digital strategy. However, we recognize that this is just part of a wider strategy, and that other enforcement options still need to be tested and pursued as the legal framework matures. It is therefore important for us all to work with other rights holders and intermediaries to ensure that a solution to the problems presented by counter-feit goods is achieved. This will help us all pro-mote a secure, stable and trusted Internet.

Advisory Board meeting briefing

Members of the Advisory Board met on 30 September to discuss the work progress of the Observatory and to give strategic advices to the President on its future tasks. In general, AB mem-bers were positive about all various work flows developed through the Observatory and shared their comments on each project. Moreover an interesting exchange of views took place concern-ing the new structure of the EC and the posi-tion of the Observatory in the new institutional environment stressing that the role of the Ob-servatory in the new political scene is even more crucial now than before and that a high quality of deliveries should be assured.

In counterfeiting all intermediaries share a degree of responsibility, alongside rights holders to promote a secure, stable and trusted Internet.

Article from Advisory Board member Frederick Mostert - Chief Legal Counsel of Richemont


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Latest News

Working group meetings minutes: Enforcement

Working group members were briefed on the recent and upcoming activities of the Observato-ry, and received updates on forthcoming studies, events, tools and training courses. Participants were invited to comment on the development of activities and projects.

Working Group members were briefed on the Observatory’s draft work programme and on the European Commission’s Action Plan, which will cover all the different stages of the supply chain and will aim at improving prevention of counterfeiting, improving cross-border coopera-tion between Member States and prioritising IP enforcement policies based on objective data.

The OHIM Academy presented its training kit for enforcement officers, which was warmly welcomed by delegates. They were also briefed on the joint Europol/OHIM report on counterfeit-ing, including the methodology and preliminary results of the situation report on counterfeit-ing in the EU. The UK IPO gave a presentation on a framework established at national level to identify the different stages within the supply chain when legal business, performed by inter-mediaries is misused by criminal networks. The Observatory then informed the WG members on the endorsement of this project by the Subgroup “Operational Best Practices” and of the intention to expand the scope of the UK initiative to EU level. Mike Weatherley, UK MP and IP Adviser to the Prime Minister, gave a presentation on his re-port “Follow the Money”, where he underlined the different approaches towards IPR infringements: education, providing consumers with attractive offers and incentives to respect IP and enforce-ment.

The Office briefed delegates on the Interna-tional IP Enforcement Summit which took place in London from 11 to 12 June, hosted by OHIM and the UKIPO. Delegates were invited to present ideas for the next summit, to take place in June

2016. A Romanian delegate brought members up

to date on the recent regional seminar held in Bucharest. Stakeholders were informed that the next seminar will take place from 6 to 8 October in Denmark and were invited to give suggestions for the next regional seminars to be held in 2015.

Working group members also heard a sum-mary of the Europol/OHIM Knowledge Building conference on IP crimes in Sports, which was held in Alicante from 26 to 28 March 2014, and were also briefed on the next such seminar, which will focus on the Internet as a facilitator of IP crime and will be hosted by OHIM from 5 to 7 November 2014. This event will be co-chaired with Europol and, for the first time, with Eurojust. The Office provided an overview on the state of play in the deployment of EDB and ACIST. Moreover, partici-pants were introduced to ACRIS, a new database meant to enable EU companies to provide infor-mation concerning infringements of their IP rights in non-EU countries in a confidential manner. The development of the database should start at the beginning of next year and finish by the end of the year.

Working group meetings minutes: Public Awareness

Participants were briefed on the draft work programme and activities of the Office and were invited to comment.

Delegates received a presentation on the forthcoming Youth Action Plan, (YAP) which includes an IP Youth Scoreboard questionnaire, social media activities, a dedicated YAP website and mapping and monitoring of opinion leaders. Participants discussed the scope of the question-naire and agreed on its main components, as well as giving their views on other aspects of the plan. Delegates also received a presentation on the IP and Education study, which analyses how IP and IP related components, such as innovation, entrepre-neurship and creativity are taught in primary and secondary schools in the EU.


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Latest News

The report first analyses the situation in EU Member States, with a second phase due to analyse the situation in Switzerland, the US, Sin-gapore and Hong Kong (the most innovative non EU countries according to the WIPO innovation index).

Delegates also received a briefing on the second phase of the IP Contribution study plus communication initiatives. The Office, together with DG Enterprise, updated the participants on the SMEs Action Plan (AP). the Plan has been temporarily halted due to internal restructuring at the European Commission, however some initiatives will continue to be developed, including the IP SME Scoreboard, which is meant to assess SMEs’ use of and experience with IP rights and intellectual property in general and which would be published on an annual basis.

Participants were presented with three work flows that the Office would like to develop in the context of its Consumer Corner: a copyright FAQ (a set of questions and answers for consumers who use digital content, with clear, country-spe-cific answers), the European Aggregator of legal offers (an online home for all legal offers for e-books, films, music, press, games and TV streams) and a website search engine tool/database that would indicate whether a website is safe or not.

The Observatory presented two types of schemes to support public/private initiatives in the area of public awareness: the first covering initiatives from IP national offices through bilat-eral agreements that they have with the Office and the second a grant scheme for public private initiatives.

The objectives, expected results, scope, eligi-bility selection and award criteria, timeline and process were presented for the grant scheme.

Scott Walker from PRS for Music (repre-senting Mike Weatherley, the IP advisor to the UK Prime Minister) highlighted the main action lines related to IP awareness in the UK and informed participants about the content of a report to be published shortly that will describe the IP context, process and give recommendations to improve coordination and coherence of various IP activi-ties.

The European Commission presented its Ac-tion Plan stressing that the main focus will be on commercial scale IP infringement and it will aim reducing counterfeiters’ profits, including all parts of the supply and distribution chains and aiming to improve prevention, cross-border coopera-tion between Member States and prioritising IP enforcement policy based on objective data.

The Commission underlined the key role the Observatory is called upon to play in the part of the plan for awareness raising initiatives.

Representatives of Unifab and INPI gave a brief on their recently designed web-based IP campaign.

Working group meetings minutes: Legal Affairs



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Delegates heard that a pilot regional seminar will be held in Costa Rica for trade representatives of EU delegations in 25 North and South American countries, with the aim of increasing awareness on international standards in IPR protection and the Commission perspective on key IP Issues. A simi-lar seminar is planned for representatives of EU delegations in the Mediterranean rim and that will take place in November.

Other regional seminars will be organised in the course of 2015.

The French government department deal-ing with customs, DGDDI (Direction Générale des Douanes et des Droits Indirects), presented a re-port comparing German, French and English case-law in the area of damages for litigation relating to infringement, and provided a number of recom-mendations for improvement.

Meanwhile, the Office presented an update on the cost and damages report project, informing participants that a specific, more focused, question-naire will be channelled through the ECTA anti-counterfeiting subcommittee with results expected by the end of the year.

The European Commission (DG MARKT) pre-sented its Action Plan stressing that the main focus will be on commercial scale IP infringement aiming at preventing counterfeiters from profiting from this illicit business. The Action Plan should cover all the different stages of the supply chain and it would aim at improving prevention, cross-border cooperation between Member States and priori-tising IP enforcement policies based on objective data.

Working group meetings minutes: IP in the Digital World


Delegates heard a presentation on work flows in the quantification of infringements project,

The Office presented an update on its en-forcement-related case-law collection project, to be implemented in collaboration with national IP offices. A pilot project with eight national offices will be underway by the end of 2014.

OHIM and DG Trade gave an update on the IPR survey directed at companies protecting their IP rights in third countries that was conducted through the Observatory. The results of the survey, together with a qualitative assessment of the situation will be available by mid-2015.

The Office gave an update on the deploy-ment of EU funded projects in third countries, for which OHIM is the implementing agency.

Delegates were fully briefed on activities un-dertaken or planned as part of the IP-Key project in China and the ECAPIII project in the ASEAN countries.

The Office also gave an update on the work to date on the country guides. Guides for Russia, Brazil, China, Turkey and India have been com-pleted, with work now focusing on Ukraine.

A first draft of the guide should be sent to Working Group members for review at the beginning of 2015. DG TRADE presented an update on Free Trade Agreements with Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Japan, and the USA. DG TRADE also presented the main elements of its enforcement strategy for third countries. The Of-fice updated members on the inaugural meeting of lead IP officers from EU delegations in 13 key countries held in March.

Latest News

Latest News


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including cooperation on the joint OHIM/OECD study on counterfeit goods; sectorial stud-ies carried out by the Office; and studies to be carried out with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) on infringements of digital content. Delegates received an update on the Europol/OHIM report on counterfeiting that focuses on techniques that counterfeiters use in their illegal activities. The publication of the study was announced for 2015. Members also heard that the Orphan works database will go-live on the 20th of Octo-ber. The EC services informed that the national implementation deadline for the Orphan Works Directive is set for the 29 October. The Office underlined the fact that the database will be available in all EU languages. The Office updated delegates on the study on voluntary collabora-tion practices, and presented the proposed methodology made up of two steps – first, the mapping of existing voluntary collaboration prac-tices and second, the analysis of several selected cases. OHIM also presented a proposal for a study to map and analyse the existing legislative framework that is used to combat and prevent online counterfeiting.

The Office presented a proposal for a study that would focus on a detailed analysis of the functioning, funding and popularity of copyright-infringing websites. The focus would only be on commercial-scale copyright infringements. More-over, participants were presented with three work flows that the Office would like to develop in the context of its Consumer Corner: a copy-right FAQ (a set of questions and answers for consumers who use digital content, with clear, country-specific answers), the European Aggre-gator of legal offers (an online home for all legal offers for e-books, films, music, press, games and TV streams) and a website search engine tool/database that would indicate whether a website is safe or not.

Mike Weatherley M.P., IP advisor to the UK Prime Minister, gave a presentation on his report “Search Engines and Piracy” in which he advo-cated more responsibility and involvement of search engines and ISPs in the fight against online infringements. He also shared his experience in discussions with Google about implementing actions proposed in the report with participants and stressed the importance of voluntary col-laboration. The European Commission presented its Action Plan on the Enforcement of IP Rights, stressing that the main focus will be on commer-cial-scale IP infringements aiming at prevent-ing counterfeiters from profiting from this illicit business. Following a suggestion from civil society representatives, the Office decided to carry out a study on the use and enforcement of open licences. A preliminary discussion took place underlining the need for data to quantify the eco-nomic importance of such licences, interactions with traditional rights and the ways such these licences are enforced.

Working group meetings minutes: Economics and Statistics

Participants were informed about the Obser-vatory’s progress on the three strands of work of the study on counterfeit goods to be carried out jointly with the OECD, the study of online piracy to be carried out jointly with the JRC and the study on infringement of GIs, to be carried out by OHIM in collaboration with relevant Commission services.

Delegates were informed that the successful pilot to quantify infringements in perfumes and toiletry preparations, which was presented to the WG in February, was followed by a study of the industrial gases sector, which did not generate statistically valid results.

Latest News

Latest News


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Effectiveness of national courts: the European Commission and the Observatory have launched a data collection exercise

Access to an effective justice system is crucial for the effective application and enforcement of EU law on the Community Trade Mark. Effective justice systems are also indispensable for strengthening the mutual trust needed for the development and implementation of EU instruments based on mu-tual recognition and cooperation. More generally, well-functioning justice systems are structural com-ponents of an attractive business environment.

The EU Justice Scoreboard is an information tool aiming to assist the EU and Member States to achieve more effective justice by providing objec-tive, reliable and comparable data on the quality, independence and efficiency of justice systems in all Member States. It also intends to provide spe-cific data on the functioning of national courts in certain areas of EU law. In its 2014 edition, the EU Justice Scoreboard contained specific data on the functioning of national courts when applying EU competition and consumer law.

For future editions of the EU Justice Score-board, the European Commission is exploring the possibility of gathering complete and specific data through the Observatory on the functioning of courts when applying EU law on the Community Trade Mark, notably on the number and length of cases where national courts have ruled on an infringement of Community trade mark or where they have applied provisional measures to put an end to an infringement. A questionnaire has been sent for this purpose to the public representatives of the Observatory and replies are to be sent to the European Commission by 3 November 2014. If you have any questions on the EU Justice Scoreboard or this questionnaire, please contact [email protected]. For more information, go to: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/effective-justice/files/justice_scoreboard_2014_en.pdf

The Observatory presented a list of 13 other sectors that would be studied using this meth-odology during the coming year. Those sectors were selected because they are IPR intensive, and are thought to be susceptible to counterfeit-ing. Together, they account for about a quar-ter of the manufacturing IPR-intensive sectors subject to counterfeiting, and the result of these studies will complement the work to be carried out with the OECD.

Delegates were briefed on a descriptive and econometric update of Phase 2 of the IP con-tribution study that looks at the relationship between the use of registered IPRs by individual companies and their economic performance. This firm-level analysis indicates that there is a significantly positive relationship between com-panies’ use of IPR and their economic perfor-mance, especially for SMEs.

Other major studies to be carried out by the Office during 2015 were discussed. Specifically, there will be studies on trade secrets that begin during spring, geographical indications and on the economic contribution of open licensing/cre-ative commons/public domain works.

The European Commission presented its Ac-tion Plan, stressing that the main focus will be on commercial scale IP infringement. It aims to re-duce counterfeiters’ profits, including all parts of the supply and distribution chain and aiming at improving prevention and cross-border coopera-tion between Member States as well as prioritise IP enforcement policy based on objective data.

UKIPO presented its research programme for the coming year. The upcoming studies cover many areas, including enforcement and infringe-ment, patents in emerging markets, demand for trade marks, the IP trading platforms, and the market for copyright (digital exchange). In addi-tion, the IPO is responsible for evaluating major changes in UK IP policy and will carry out several such assessments during the coming year.

Latest News

mailto:maria.canal-fontcuberta%40ec.europa.eu.?subject=

mailto:maria.canal-fontcuberta%40ec.europa.eu.?subject=

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/effective-justice/files/justice_scoreboard_2014_en.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/effective-justice/files/justice_scoreboard_2014_en.pdf


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Country GuidesOHIM has produced a series of country guides.

These guides are written to provide basic assis-tance to intellectual property (IP) rights holders and their advisers on IP protection and enforcement system in the countries concerned.

The current batch of guides covers Brazil, Chi-na, India, the Russian Federation and Turkey. The guides are intended to provide simple guidelines on how rights holders can protect their IP assets and what to do if their rights are infringed.

Each guide gives some brief background information on the country concerned, outlines the legal framework and identifies significant weak points concerning IP protection and enforcement.Some basic advice is provided together with details of useful contacts. Links to online resources are provided where they are available. You can find the guides along with other Observatory publications at: https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/

observatory-publications

Study on inter-agency cooperation in the enforcement of property rigthts

The report was based on responses to a questionnaire that was issued to the public sector representatives of all of the Member States. The responses covered a total of twenty-five of the current twenty-eight Member States. While this is not complete coverage of the European Union, it does provide sufficient information to gain a general picture of the situation. This, in turn, al-lowed a number of possible best practices to be identified in the field of inter-agency cooperation on IPR enforcement in Member States.

The priority practices can be summarised as follows:

- All Member States should consider establish-ing an inter-agency cooperation structure where they do not already have one.

-It is desirable where possible to have only one agency lead the cooperation effort.

- Inter-agency cooperation structures should-explore how to involve the judiciary.

- Private stakeholders should be given the op-portunity of participating in inter-agency struc-tures

- The possibility of cross border cooperation-should be part of Member States’ inter-agencyco-operation

Latest News

www.oami.europa.eu

https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/observatory-publications

https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/observatory-publications


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IP Curriculum studyEducation is a core pillar of any society and

influences the development and position of any country greatly. Therefore the Observatory de-cided to analyse how IP and IP components such as innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship are being taught in European primary and secondary schools. This work was carried out by P.A.U. Edu-cation consortium in the context of a framework contract signed with OHIM.

In total 28 countries and 8 regions were studied. The researchers compiled and analysed information from a variety of sources and approxi-mately 1500 curricula documents were identified and analysed. On this basis, the Observatory received the first preliminary results which were presented to stakeholders at a public awareness working group in Brussels on 25 September 2014.

One of the first conclusions shows that in most Member States, IP education is mainly linked to IT and technology and also to citizenship education covering broader moral and ethical concepts of rights and obligations. Another result shows that teachers frequently do not have sufficient sup-port in terms of training or adequate materials to teach about IP. Please, check our website for final publication of the report that should take place in the coming weeks.

Pilot project on enforcement-related case-law collection and analysis

One of the main tasks entrusted to the Office by Regulation (EU) No 386/2012 is to improve knowledge on infringements of intellectual prop-erty rights in Member States. Taking into account that this requires access to court decisions ren-dered at national level, the Office is launching a new initiative to collect and analyse enforcement-related case-law. This activity will be implemented in cooperation with national IP offices in the framework of annual cooperation agreements signed between the Office and national counter-parts.

The aim of this activity is to collect key judg-ments rendered at national level related to en-forcement of IP rights and to make them publicly available in the Office case-law database. The information collected will also enable an objec-tive and reliable EU-wide assessment about key developments in case-law and measures and pro-cedures applied by national courts in IP infringe-ment cases.

The pilot project with 8 national IP offices will be started this year. It is expected that more na-tional IP offices will join the project next year.

Latest News


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New eLearning: Registered Community Design

The Academy announced a new eLearning course on Community Designs available in its Learning platform (OALP) on the OHIM Website in September 2014, in order to satisfy the insatiable demand for more IP courses.

This is an eLearning tool presenting core in-formation for the Registered Community Designs (RCD) as well as analysing the peculiarities of the design system together with the scope and functioning of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM).

The online training course consists of approxi-mately 3 and a half hours of interactive material divided into seven lessons as follows:

1. The benefits of industrial designs2. What is a design right?3. The requirements for a design right4. Obtaining designs rights in Europe5. How to register an industrial design with

OHIM.6. Invalidity procedure7. Appeal procedureWho is this course of interest to? The course is mainly aimed at anyone who

wants to develop their knowledge and skills on issues relating to community designs. In addition, the course provides useful information for any external stakeholder who wants to ensure that their designs are correctly protected.

Certificate and PodcastsUpon completion of the course, the partici-

pant will receive a course completion certificate in pdf format. Additionally, podcasts for each module are available for the course and can be downloaded and used from your computer or any mobile device. http://oami.europa.eu/knowledge/

How can I access this course? To access this course and the full catalogue of

the OALP, you need to create an account (user-name and password) at OHIM Website. Please find below the instructions to do it:

https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/how-can-i-create-a-new-user-area-account

Once you have created and validated your account in the OHIM Website, you can access the OALP through the Learning Portal link, placed in the OHIM website home page: https://oami.europa.

eu/ohimportal/en/home

Judges’ Seminar 2-3 June 2014 on the protection of confidential information

OHIM hosted its 26th Judges’ Seminar on 2 and 3 June 2014, and addressed the issue of protection of confidential information for the first time. This seminar was also the first Judges’ Seminar to be organised jointly with the Euro-pean Patent Office.

The seminar dealt with several practical ques-tions related to the conditions of protection of confidential information and the consequences of violation of secrecy.

Academy NEWS

http://oami.europa.eu/knowledge/

https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en

https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en


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Although planned months ahead, the timing of this event could not have been any better as the week before the seminar the Council agreed on a general approach for a proposal for a directive on the protection of trade secrets.

The seminar was a joint event with colleagues coming from Munich who delivered two inter-esting lectures on patent and know-how. There was also representation from USPTO at the seminar and an interesting presentation on the US system of protection of trade secrets was given. As they usually do the EU Commission (DG MARKT) attended our Judges’ Seminar as experts and observers. DG Justice also sent one ad-ministrator to give a valuable presentation on the data on the functioning of national courts when applying EU IPR rules.

Academy NEWS

The next event on our agenda is a seminar on counterfeit and money laundering to be held on 16 and 17 October 2014 at the OHIM premises in Alicante.

The Commission and the Judges held open debates and exchanges of opinions very openly during over the two days. Thirty-six judges attend-ed the event in Alicante, representing nineteen EU Member States, as well as Norway, Turkey and the USA, which was a wide geographic representation. Two more countries that could not participate in this seminar (France and the Netherlands) also sent their responses to the different questions making a record total of twenty-five countries covered at one seminar.


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Update on Enforcement Database (EDB)

The Enforcement Database (EDB) is now in its implementation phase with Customs. It had 91 registered users by 22 August and more than 165 products created.

The last release (August) of the EDB included improvements to IPR portfolio management and the AFA generation for several countries.

The EDB team is working together with TAXUD on the scope, budget and planning of the connec-tion to COPIS, which will make e-filing of an Appli-cation for Action (AFA) possible.

At the same time legal and technical experts from the Observatory and EUROPOL are working on a secure connection to EDB for European IP crime experts.

Next steps:• Study on User Experience by Deloitte• Visit to euLISA to start a feasibility study

for a secure network to reach all European police forces

• Roadshow to all Member States to raise awareness of customs officers about the new se-cure access to EDB

• Approval of scope, budget and planning EDB/COPIS and start development

• Approval of scope, budget and planning EDB/IPM and start development

• November and March releases with new functionalities such as electronic registration form, possibility of appointing a representative, uploading videos, news item area, statistics for ac-count holders

• Study on requirements and solutions for mobile application (phone, tablet and barcode reader).

Update on Anti-Counterfeiting Intelligent Support Tool (ACIST)

ACIST is a tool for the collection and evaluation of harmonised data on piracy and counterfeiting . It enables enforcement authorities, right-holders and national offices to combat counterfeiting better. It is designed to be used and populated by enforcement agencies.

After the release of the ACIST tool and its implementation, we started populating it with data on piracy and counterfeiting coming from differ-ent authorities from all member states. Thanks to a close collaboration with TAXUD, we now have all the data available from seizures done by customs over the last three years.

Tools NEWS

IP Toolkit: Public Awareness campaign repository 146 campaigns now! https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/public-awareness-campaigns.

https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/public-awareness-campaigns


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We are currently completing this data with fur-ther information from other authorities. It mostly concerns seizures within the different Member States by police authorities. An intensive campaign was set up to contact all different Member State authorities on an individual basis for this purpose.

In the coming months we will focus on those Member States whose information is still missing, as well as on the data of previous years to improve the reliability of the information available in ACIST.

Update on Anti-Counterfeiting Rapid Intelligence System (ACRIS)

We are pleased to announce that the Anti-Coun-terfeiting Rapid Intelligence System (ACRIS) has en-tered the development phase in the EU Observatory and is expected to be fully operational in the second part of 2015.

This new tool is an intelligence database that al-lows EU companies to report information about IPR infringements they believe they were victims of in a structured format and their respective follow-up by local authorities in countries outside the European Union.

The system will: - guarantee the anonymity of data provided by

EU companies;- produce relevant statistical information to as-

sess the level of violations in third countries (coun-tries outside the European Union);

- measure the efficiency of actions taken by enforcement authorities against counterfeiting.

Tools news

Update on Orphan Works Database

The single online Orphan works database is being set up by the Office according to the requirements of the Orphan works Directive 2012/28/EU in coopera-tion with the European Commission and Member State experts meeting in the framework of Copyright Contact Committee meetings.

Orphan works are works such as books, news-paper and magazine articles and films that are still protected by copyright but whose authors or other right holders are not known or cannot be located or contacted to obtain copyright permissions. A single database for Orphan works will be shared by all the EU Member States.

The latest steps in the implementation of the Orphan works project included IT design and the development phase. The web user interface and Orphan works bulk upload process have been tested with external stakeholders to ensure that the tool covers expected functionalities and that the quality of parameters is well defined. Testing sessions with representatives of competent national authorities and beneficiary organisations took place on the 3 and 4 July, in Alicante.

The beneficiary organisations involved in the test-ing included the British Library, the Spanish National Library, the German National Library, the Hungarian National Széchényi Library, the Slovak National Li-brary, the University of Malta Library, the Hungarian National Digital Archive and Film Institute (MaNDA) and the Estonian Public Broadcaster.

After restricted go-live in August the database will be fully operational in the last week of October 2014.


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A Busy Whirl of Events

Meeting on OHIM supporting Europol operational action plan dealing with counterfeinting

On 10 and 11 July, the Italian Carabinieri NAS (Nucleo Anti Sofisticazione) organised the third meeting related to the Operational Action Plan (OAP) of the 2014 EMPACT priority of “Counter-feiting” in Rome (Italy).

This project is in fact led by Italy (jointly by the Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza) and sup-ported by Europol. Other EU Member States, the European Commission (DG HOME), CEPOL and OHIM attended as participants.

An update of the different actions undertaken by this group was given by the various action leaders. The Observatory gave an update on the actions led by OHIM (alone or in cooperation with other EU agencies) which are: the OHIM-Europol joint Situation Report on Counterfeiting in the EU, the joint knowledge building seminars and awareness raising on EDB and ACIST among law enforcement authorities.

CEPOL informed participants about the hands-on training course to be delivered in Alicante in 2015 thanks to the cooperation with OHIM. As for proposals for 2015 actions, the Member State delegates expressed the intention to give a more operational focus to the next OAP.

They also welcomed the future publication of the OHIM-Europol report for this reason, as it would give them some indications on where to concentrate efforts and resources.

The next OAP meeting will be held in The Hague by the end of the year (October/Novem-ber).

Observatory and Eurojust meet to discuss cooperation

On 9 July, the Observatory met with Eurojust to discuss cooperation between the two organi-sations. Eurojust’s Vice-President and National Member for the Slovak Republic, Ladislav Ham-ran, hosted the visit. Eurojust’s Financial and Economic Crime Team were also represented at the meeting and the possibility of cooperation as regards the joint organisation of seminars for prosecutors and possible future exchange of strategic information on IP crime in the EU were among the issues dealt with as well as Eurojust’s involvement in the Observatory regional semi-nars on IP enforcement.

An update was given on the status of the Enforcement Database and the Anti-Counterfeit-ing Intelligence Support Tool (ACIST), as well as the collection of statistics on cases related to IP infringements.

For more information, go to visit: https://oami.

europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/news/-/action/

view/1329738

https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/news/-/action/view/1329738




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Interagency coordination meeting - 1 July

The second Interagency Coordination Group (CG) meeting was hosted by OHIM at its premises in Brussels on 1st of July. The meeting was attend-ed by the European Commission (DG MARKT), EPO (Observer), Interpol, WCO and WIPO. Several topics were discussed during this meeting.

In particular:• The recently published EU Action Plan

against IP infringements, presented by the Euro-pean Commission

• The update on the drafting of the Quanti-fication of IP Infringements with a particular focus on the chemical sector contribution, presented by the Observatory (Chief Economist)

• A study on the available e-learning pro-grammes for IPR enforcers, presented by the Observatory (Academy)

• The raising awareness campaign “Turn Back Crime”, presented by Interpol.

At the end of the meeting it was decided that:- Every member will mention the Inter-

agency Coordination Group’s activities in their respective annual reports.

- The next meeting will probably be held in March 2015 at WIPO’s premises in Geneva.

A Busy Whirl of Events

Trans-Atlantic working group meeting

In 2005 the EU and the U.S. established the IPR Working Group. The working group is composed of staff representatives of lead agencies and services from both Europe and the United States and it works in consultation with industry and other in-volved stakeholders.

On 17 and 18 July, the EU and the U.S. held a session of the Trans-Atlantic Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Working Group in Brussels to discuss cooperation in the IPR field for both IP rights hold-ers and users.

Over 85 participants from a wide range of businesses and non-governamental organisations attended this stakeholder event on 17 July, includ-ing a representative of the Observatory.


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CPVO seminar on the enforcement of plant variety, Zagreb, June 2014

On 5 June 2014 the CPVO held a seminar on

the enforcement of plant variety rights in Zagreb, Croatia in close cooperation with the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture and the international breeders’ organisations ESA and CIOPORA. The purpose of the seminar was to raise awareness among stakeholders such as breeders, farmers, producers, lawyers and officials on the rules and practical implementation of enforcement of plant variety rights.

The seminar was opened by Assistant Minis-ter of Agriculture in Croatia Mrs Božica Rukavina and was attended by around 100 participants from some 15 countries in the European Union and the Balkan region including Serbia and Bos-nia and Herzegovina. Presentations were given by experts from Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia on enforcement rules applicable in those countries as well as experts from international breeders associations, farmers associations and producers associations. Two workshops were organised, one on the agricultural and vegetable sectors focus-ing on the farmers’ derogation and collection of royalties for the use of farm saved seeds, and the second on enforcement in the ornamental and fruit sectors.

It was concluded that there is a need for spe-cialisation of national Courts with a view to har-monising legal practices among Member States in key areas such as the recovery of legal costs, securing a fair balance between the rights of right holders and of alleged infringers, and the selec-tion of criteria to be applied in order to achieve an adequate level of compensation for damages. Furthermore, communication on the importance of breeding and compliance is crucial.

Stakeholder News

An understanding of the respective roles of farmers and producers is of the utmost importance in order to ensure that there is upstream cooperation rather than conflicts that need to be solved in courts. More information at: http://www.cpvo.europa.eu/main/

en/home/news/conferences-and-special-events/245-seminar-on-pvr-

enforcement-in-zagreb

Hellenic Copyright Organization organises International conference with the title: “Copyright and the Digital Agenda for Europe: Current Regulations and Challenges for the Future”

In light of the Hellenic Presidency of the European Union, the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Hellenic Copyright Organization held an international conference, entitled “Copyright and the Digital Agenda for Europe: Current Regulations and Challenges for the Future”. The Conference took place at Megaron, the Athens Concert Hall on 6 June 2014. The purpose of the conference was to present actions (legal or otherwise) that have taken place in the field of copyright and related rights, with a special focus on the Digital Agenda for Europe and to discuss future challenges in this field.

http://www.cpvo.europa.eu/main/en/home/news/conferences-and-special-events/245-seminar-on-pvr-enforcement-in-zagreb




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The General Director of WIPO, Mr Francis Gurry addressed the large audience that attended the Conference in his opening speech. The panel included, among others, representatives from Google and of international unions of record labels, film producers, authors, publishers, journalists, librarians, artists, performers etc. In addition representatives from the European Commission were present as well as outstanding guests from the academic community.

AAPA: Developing training for tackling audiovisual internet piracy

The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA – www.aapa.eu) reinforced its commitment to enhancing the capability of public sector enforcement agencies to take effective action against audiovisual internet piracy during a two day workshop at Interpol in Lyon. The workshop is the start of a process whose end result will be in an online training module being hosted on the International Intellectual Property Crime Investigators College (IIPCIC) website (www.iipcic.org). The IIPIC is an initiative led by Interpol, delivered by the Trafficking in Illicit Goods and Counterfeiting Programme, in conjunction with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) University. The IIPCIC online training facility aims to equip IP investigators with the skills that are necessary to combat transnational organised IP crime effectively. The AAPA module builds upon presentations given at the OHIM-Europol know-how session on IP Crime in Sport and covers both card-sharing and illegal streaming. It will offer a detailed explanation of the dos and don’ts of investigating internet piracy: for example, what evidence to gather to support raids and

prosecution, how to do so and how to preserve evidence; how to trace the money flows and the payment methods used; how to identify and collaborate with third parties who can support an investigation and action – including where cross-border enforcement is required; and how to determine the offences that are taking place, e.g. fraud; computer misuse; copyright theft; misuse of trademarks and corporate secrets; money laundering.

BASCAP: Confiscating assets: a valuable tool to combat IP crime

It is clear that well-financed, organised criminal net-works are increasingly involved in the trade of counter-feit and pirated goods, and these networks are making significant profits from these activities. It is also clear that stopping this trend will take coordinated action among law enforcement officers, customs, the judiciary and other stakeholders across borders.

BASCAP and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) jointly produced the report “Confiscation of the Proceeds of Crime: a Modern Tool for Deterring Counterfeiting and Piracy” to strengthen the portfolio of measures that govern-ments have to fight counterfeiting and piracy. The aim of the BASCAP/UNICRI report is to generate greater awareness among policy makers of the importance of the proceeds of crime legislation and to encourage and support national governments to establish or improve a legal framework for the proceeds of crime. Promisingly, a number of countries have started to apply proceeds of crime laws as a tool in the fight against counterfeit-ing and piracy. For example, in the United Kingdom, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is being increasingly used to stop IP criminals from profiting from their illegal activi-ties, including counterfeiting and piracy.

Stakeholder News

http://www.iipcic.org/


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Stakeholder News

By confiscating assets from criminals, the ‘commercial’ motive of the crime is undermined, by reducing profits and preventing them from be-ing reinvested. In this way, confiscation prevents the criminal organisation from further fuelling its illegal activities and from laundering the proceeds of these criminal activities into legitimate busi-nesses.

Moreover, confiscated proceeds of crime can be reinvested in further law enforcement activity, defraying the related public costs and supporting the protection of IP rights often compromised by competing demands and overburdened govern-ment budgets. Proceeds of crime laws are there-fore not only an effective deterrent against IP crime, but can also help law enforcement to pay for itself. For more information, visit the BASCAP website.

Hungarian National Board Against Counterfeiting (NBAC): Fighting against counterfeiting at the Hungarian Sziget festival

The Hungarian National Board Against Coun-terfeiting (NBAC) has participated in the Sziget festival’s programmes for the first time. In addi-tion to the exhibition of counterfeit objects, this time, presentations, performances, quizzes and games with prizes awaited the festival-goers.

The Sziget festival, which is one of the most popular festivals in Europe, hosted the NBAC’s program tent named “No fake!” from 13 August. In the big tent of 100m2 numerous presentations, performances, quizzes and prize games took place.

The partners of the National Board Against Counterfeiting, who were also present in the No kamu! program tent, are the “HIPAvilon” Hungar-ian Intellectual Property Agency and the Hungar-ian Intellectual Property Office.

The program tent was supported by OHIM. The posters and games were also available in

English, while the guided tours and the presentations could be listened to in English.

Exhibition of counterfeit objectsThese days, everything in the world is counter-

feited from sunglasses through mobile phones to car tyres. In the showcases visitors could see some inter-esting and surprising examples, furthermore, there were products that could be touched and examined. Could the normal customer easily recognise whether they were holding a counterfeit product? How could they find out? The staff were happy to answer ques-tions and reveal the mostly not so easily recognisable counterfeits.

Skill and knowledge-based gamesHow much time is needed to solve a Rubik’s Cube?

Is it possible to get the guided air-balloon from one point to the other? What kind of intellectual property is included in a mobile phone? How do customs officers examine postal packages, searching for counterfeits inside? Fiberscopes, a steeplechase with remote con-trolled flying shark, a giant board game, Rubik’s Cube competition, selfie wall, logo recognising game - just to mention a few activities from the programmes that awaited the festival-goers at the No kamu! tent.


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Stakeholder News

polish.Is it now time for you to sort things out? Do

you have plenty of ideas that you would like to do something with? Do you have an innovation that, according to your friends, you could sell it on the market? It makes no difference if you are an inventor, an artist or an innovative entrepreneur, ask the Mate how and where to start. Discover what is original inside you!

How to become a rock star?You make good music but do not know how

to make it available to the public? Can’t you find your way in the labyrinth of copyright? Would you like to get an insight into the operation of the music industry or tour organisation? Or are you interested in available Hungarian and interna-tional support or calls for tenders? If your answer to these questions is yes, you could come to our five day work-shop.

What can happen in an accident if a counter-feit air-bag is installed in the car? Can it damage the electronics of a car if it is installed by using counterfeit software? Mr Árpád Giczy, Board member of the Hungarian Automobile Profes-sional Association spoke about the dangers of counterfeit spare parts, and the dreadful effects they have on drivers and passengers.

More information at: http://www.hamisitasellen.

hu/2014/08/fighting-against-counterfeiting-at-the-hungarian-

sziget-festival/

Those who like games where success de-pends not only on luck but also on knowledge, and wanted to try their luck in new situations and interactive games in a way that even they could learn, should find their way to the No kamu! program tent! Valuable prizes were given in exchange for exercises solved successfully and those who had tried out and won everything, could have themselves photographed at the selfie wall and send messages on how they spent their time to their friends on Facebook.

Presentations, performances, workshopsThe festival-goers could also participate in

interactive presentations and performances in the program tent, where invited guests, lecturers talked about intellectual property, that is, about industrial property and copyright; moreover, there was also a stand with information on how to become a real rock star.

Look at a Woman through IP glasses!You can look at a woman in various ways. It

is just the same if she comes along the street, on a bus or at the beach. Blonde, brown,- red ,-or black-haired. It is her aura and style that attract attention. A special virtual pair of glasses was given to festival-goers during the performance, through which they could look at a woman in a way never seen before. The IP glasses revealed what was hiding behind the things that women put on every day from their hats to their nail-

http://www.hamisitasellen.hu/2014/08/fighting-against-counterfeiting-at-the-hungarian-sziget-festival/




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APM: “Lichtblicke” has been nominated for the “Deutscher Wirtschaftsfilmpreis”

A video produced by APM’s eV Action Group against Product and Trade Mark Counterfeiting has scooped a coveted nomination for German Industry Film Awards of the German Federal Min-istry of Economy and Energy.

The video, entitled “Glimmers of Light” was produced for APM’s Intellectual Property public awareness campaign. According to the Parlia-mentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Economy and Energy, Brigitte Zypries: “With a to-tal of 230 submissions, a new record was set this year. The members of the jury were impressed by the high quality of entries, confirming once again that we have a vital and creative media and film industry in Germany”.

The German economy Film Award is one of the oldest German film competitions and is the most important award for films that deal with economic issues. The award ceremony will be held in Berlin on October 16th.

For more information, go to https://oami.

europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/news/-/action/

view/1418446

Stakeholder News

FESI: Counterfeiting around large sport events

For the sporting goods industry, the summer of 2014 was an exciting season with numerous large sport events in a wide range of disciplines inspiring fans and athletes all over Europe. They include the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, the Tour de France, the European Athletics Championships in Zurich, the European Aquatics Championships in Berlin and of course the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Large sporting events demonstrate the enor-mous potential of sports in all its facets. More-over, particularly for the sporting goods industry, they stimulate innovative products and concepts. The sporting goods industry is a highly innova-tive industry, with innovation and new product introductions estimated at well above 150 000 articles annually and therefore protection of our industry’s intellectual property rights is an essen-tial driver for the success of our sector.

Unfortunately, large sporting events are also a key sales opportunity for counterfeiters. They provide counterfeiters with a great opportunity to sell huge quantities of counterfeit or pirated goods within a short period of time. For instance, FESI Members experienced a growth of 500% in counterfeit products imported into South Africa which were to be sold to visiting supporters for the 2010 World Cup. In addition, large quantities of counterfeit goods are sold to fans all over the world, for example through innovative online sales channels.

It is impossible for enforcement authorities and for the sporting goods industry to tackle the latest ploys used by counterfeiters on their own. Therefore, ongoing cooperation between the public and private sector is essential. In this respect, the knowledge building conference on IP Crimes in sport, co-organised by the Observatory and Europol in March 2014, was an excellent and very timely opportunity to enhance collaboration between rights owners and enforcers. Against






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the backdrop of another decrease of seizures in counterfeits by EU Customs, the sporting goods industry stands ready to support further initia-tives with the public sector to step-up the fight against counterfeit products.

ESIA highlights the need for increased reporting of counterfeiting to IP rights holders

How to obtain and efficiently share action-able information on what to target in terms of counterfeit goods? This is the key question when considering how to ensure effective enforcement of IPR at and within our borders. Steven Jeter, Vice Chairman of the European Semiconductor Industry

Association’s (ESIA) Anti-Counterfeiting Com-mittee and Director at Infineon Technologies AG, underlines the absolute necessity of improved and increased reporting of suspected and known-counterfeit goods to IP rights holders and en-forcement authorities. The ESIA highlights the need for consolidated databases and IP reporting tools that can be used by customers, manufactur-ers/IP rights holders and enforcement agencies.

ESIA also emphasises that it is crucial to develop reporting, identification and training guidelines together with enforcement partners to ensure balanced and effective reporting. Semi-conductors are the “brains” behind important electronic systems and critical infrastructure. Semiconductors enable applications in medical

equipment, electrical power grids, and communi-cations, automotive, defence and aviation sys-tems. Semiconductors control the performance of these and other vital electronics. Therefore, counterfeit semiconductor components have the potential to pose major risks to the health, safety, and security of consumers and national infra-structure worldwide.

ESIA has been active with the EU and Global stakeholders in fighting the scourge of counter-feiting through its Anti-Counterfeiting Committee. The ESIA has undertaken anticounterfeiting activi-ties including training, sharing information with national enforcement authorities, raising aware-ness, and encouraging customers to purchase from authorised sources. In addition, the ESIA supports border operations and was involved in the first joint US-EU customs operation targeting counterfeit semiconductor products. Through the leadership of ESIA, the World Semiconductor Council (WSC) established an Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (ACTF) chaired by Leonardo Sabato (Senior Manager, STMicroelectronics). This ACTF increases awareness and establishes a global level commitment to fighting counterfeit semi-conductors and to reduce the risks associated with their proliferation in the global market. The WSC consists of semiconductor industry associa-tions from China, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Japan, the US and Europe.

OEPM: Twinning Project with Ukraine

A Twinning project is a European Commis-sion initiative that was originally designed to help candidate countries acquire the necessary skills and experience to adopt, implement and enforce EU legislation. A twinning project on Intellectual Property in Ukraine, ‘Strengthening the Protection and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Ukraine’ started in May, 2014 and this is now in making good progress under the leadership of

Stakeholder News


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the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office with cooperation of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office in a consortium.

The State Intellectual Property of Ukraine (SIPSU) is the beneficiary. A Spanish resident Twinning Adviser from the Secretariat of State for International Cooperation and Ibero-America (FIIAPP) will work in Ukraine throughtout the project implementation period until 31 November 2015. Together with Ukrainian experts they will directly monitor its progress.

The Twinning project is divided into three main components:

1. Approximation of Ukrainian legislation in the sphere of IPR enforcement legislation to that of the EU,

2. Enhancing institutional capacity of SIPSU,3. Strengthening professional skills of

stakeholders (state inspectors, examiners, judges, custom officials).

A launch meeting took place on 29 May at the premises of SIPSU in Kiev. The guest list for the event included Mr. Jan Tombinski, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Mr Gerardo Bugallo Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain and repre-sentatives of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, Danish Patent and Trademark Office, as well as experts from public and judicial bodies of Ukraine, which are involved in the implementa-tion of the Project. Moreover, members of busi-ness and rights-holders’ associations attended this event, together with media representatives.

To follow the activities of the project, http://sips.

gov.ua/en/twinning_eng

Spanish Police officers honoured with Medal of the Order of Civil Merit for IPR protection

These awards are given in recognition of the commendable work carried out by the State Se-curity Forces in their fight against counterfeiting and in favour of intellectual property rights. The

awards have been promoted and awarded by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office.

It is the first time that officials from the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism and the Ministry of Interior have awarded such honours. The Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism, the Secretary of State for Security, the Director Gen-eral of the Civil Guard (Guardia Civil), the Director General of Police, and the Director General of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office presided over the ceremony on 23 July 2014.

Counterfeiting of intellectual property rights is a global problem, with a worrying dimension in Spain. This dimension is reflected in the figures given in the 2013 annual Balance, which lists the interventions to combat infringements of intellec-tual property rights, and that was presented

during the World Anti-Counterfeiting Day cel-ebrations held on 3 June in Algeciras.

The report shows that the Police were made aware of 2,434 cases involving infringements of intellectual property rights in 2013, and they detained or charged 2,155 persons for criminal offences against such rights.

In addition, 5,094,879 items valued at over € 812 million were seized. Toys (20.1%), leather goods/accessories (17.7%), textiles (11.7%) and jewellery/watches (5.0%) were the most affected sectors, with factories, warehouses or stores be-ing the most common points of seizure.

Stakeholder News

http://sips.gov.ua/en/twinning_eng

http://sips.gov.ua/en/twinning_eng


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These sectors are very important for industry and the economy and counterfeiting of these prod-ucts generates harmful effects due to destruction of jobs, the links between counterfeiting and organised crime (mafia, money laundering) and the decline of the Spanish economy. The study entitled “Consum-er Attitude to Forgeries”, published by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office reveals that Spaniards spend € 1 billion per year on counterfeit goods. This is why the onus was on thanking and highlighting the work carried out every day by the Police during the award ceremony.

UK IP Crime Report 2013/14 The IP Crime Group 2013/14 IP Crime report

has been published on 10 October by the Min-ister for Intellectual Property, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, in an event at the House of Lords. The IP Crime Report focuses on the existing and rising threats posed by counterfeiting and piracy and highlights what is being done to tackle them. The report also aims to raise awareness around the types of fake goods and copyright infringing ma-terial most prevalent in the UK, especially those with a direct link to organised crime, and where there is personal or economic harm. In June 2014, the IP Crime Group published a highlight report which included a preview of material con-tained in the main report. Key findings included; • The top 5 products investigated by Trading Standards are clothing, cigarettes, alcohol, footwear and DVDs.

• IP crime has been linked to other criminality including benefit fraud, money laundering, organ-ised criminal networks, drug dealing and violence. The main report will be available on the IP Crime Group Twitter page @ipcrimegroup from 10 October 2014.

• 117 pirate websites have been shut down by FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft ). 7 alleged UK release group members were arrested and 10 further pirate websites blocked in the UK following High Court orders.

• Over 200 brands have now been contacted by FACT since 2011 and over 5,000 individual pieces of intelligence were received and reviewed.

• In 2013/14 UK border officials detained 21,494 consignments of IPR-infringing goods.

The highlight report from June 2014 can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/318338/IP_crime_highlight_report.PDF

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says IP protection key to Ukraine’s economic growth and development

ICC/BASCAP and ICC Ukraine release new report calling on

government to strengthen protection of Intellectual Property in

Ukraine

Kiev, 25 June 2014 – At the Intellectual Property Rights Forum in Kiev, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told senior government and busi-ness leaders that the government will establish a stronger system for protecting intellectual property (IP) rights as a key driver for Ukraine’s economic growth and development. “We have taken the first steps by drafting a National Strategy of the Develop-ment of the Field of Intellectual Property in Ukraine for the period up to 2018”, Mr Yatsenyuk said. “How-ever, we recognise that much work still needs to be done to bring Ukraine’s IP laws and regulations into line with those of the European Union and other de-veloped markets, and we are committed to working with our trading partners and the private sector to make this happen”.

Stakeholder News

https://twitter.com/ipcrimegroup

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/318338/IP_crime_highlight_report.PDF



http://www.iccwbo.org/Advocacy-Codes-and-Rules/BASCAP/International-engagement-and-Advocacy/Country-Initiatives/Promoting-and-protecting-IP-in-the-Ukraine/




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Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP), an initiative of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and ICC Ukraine presented a new report calling on the Ukrainian government to strengthen IP rights (IPR) and IP protection. The report, Promoting and Protect-ing Intellectual Property in the Ukraine, was pre-sented to the Prime Minister at the Forum as part of the discussion on changes needed to create a robust regime for IP protection and enforcement in Ukraine.“We applaud the steps taken by the Ukraine Government to write a bold, new national strategy for the development of IP”, said Jeffrey Hardy, Director of BASCAP. “BASCAP and its part-ners at ICC Ukraine hope our report will help shape that national strategy and ensure that it includes the necessary provisions to lift Ukraine’s IP regime and IP enforcement up to international standards in the European Union and other developed econo-mies of the world.”

The Ukraine Alliance Against Counterfeiting and Piracy (UAACP) estimates that the value of fakes in Ukraine could be as high as US $ 1.3 billion per year. According to other estimates the losses to trademark counterfeiting in Ukraine were close to US $ 710 million and the combined losses of music, film and software copyright piracy added another US $ 720 million – accounting for as much as 33% of Ukraine’s total black market. Most of the coun-terfeit goods on the Ukrainian market are not pro-duced domestically but imported. IPR protection standards in Ukraine are generally recognised to be considerably below the levels of many developed and developing countries, with significant counter-feiting across the Ukrainian economy, including software, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, clothing, food, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages. Ukraine also has become a hub for massive digital copyright piracy of recorded music, films, software and books. “Without constructive steps like those taken today,

Stakeholder News

Ukraine will continue to be among the worst IPR infringers worldwide,” Mr Hardy said. “Intel-lectual property is a key driver for innovation, economic development and foreign invest-ment, and real economic growth will depend on Ukraine’s ability to create an environment that stimulates and supports innovation and a strong IP rights regime”, he added.

The BASCAP/ICC Ukraine report details how IP protection benefits the economy in terms of GDP, employment, tax revenues and competitiveness. It highlights the important role that IP rights play in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and promoting innovation, research and development and technology transfer. For Ukraine, recent stud-ies by the World Intellectual Property Organiza-tion (WIPO) show that copyright-related industries alone generate over 400,000 jobs and contribute more than 3% of Ukraine’s GDP growth.

The report includes comprehensive policy and legislative recommendations to advance the Ukrainian IP rights protection and enforcement regime. The BASCAP study recommends a num-ber of policy and legislative recommendations in-cluding the need to: address inadequacies in civil enforcement procedures; improve action against internet infringements; strengthen criminal IP law and strengthen border controls and customs en-forcement competence; and establish an effective dialogue and cooperation between Ukrainian gov-ernment authorities, IP rights holders and other stakeholders. “Ukraine’s new national IP strategy must be comprehensive, clearly delineate imple-mentation and enforcement responsibilities and allocate sufficient resources to ensure effective enforcement, said Mr Volodymyr Shchelkunov, President of ICC Ukraine.

“The time is right for Ukraine to continue strengthening its IP rights systems,” said Mr Shchelkunov.


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“The drafting of a national strategy is a strong indication that Ukraine is committed to strength-ening its IP rights regime and proceeding with the policy and legal reforms needed to become a leader in IP protection.”

Mr Yatsenyuk thanked BASCAP and ICC Ukraine for the report.“This report will be a valuable resource to us in finalising the National Strategy. We welcome the recommendations in the report, and look forward to working with the private sector to build an IP rights and protection system in Ukraine that will drive local business innovation and development, and attract foreign business investment,” he said. “ICC, through its BASCAP initiative, and ICC Ukraine stand ready to do their part to help the Government of Ukraine achieve these important goals,” said Mr Shchelku-nov. “We look forward to forming a public-private partnership with the new government to imple-ment the suggestions and directions laid out today.”

Stakeholder News

INTA’s Conference “When Trademarks Overlap With Other IP Rights”

INTA will be holding a two-day, advanced-level educational conference in Munich on December 8-9, titled “When Trademarks Overlap With Other IP Rights”.

Speakers include trademark/IP experts from private practice, companies, academia and government, such as Theophile Margellos from OHIM, Mihály Ficsór from the Hungarian IP Office and Dr. Christoph Ernst from the German Federal Ministry of Justice. The conference is cosponsored by the INTA’s Programs and Related Rights Com-mittees and has the kind support of GRUR. More information at www.inta.org/2014tmoverlap.

http://www.inta.org/Programs/Pages/14OverlappingTMRights.aspx


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Euro-Mediterranean meeting against counterfeiting

The third Euro-Mediterranean meeting against counterfeiting will be held in Rome on 26 November. This event is organised by the Italian Patent Office, the French Patent Office and the French National Committee against counterfeit-ing. The main aim of the meeting is to initiate bi-lateral and multilateral cooperation and to share experiences in the field of counterfeiting among countries. In order to do so, this meeting gathers high representatives from several countries, one from the patent/trademark office of the country and one from an organisation against counterfeit-ing. For some countries, this organisation may be customs service or members from a ministry. In France, the President of the National Committee against Counterfeiting, Senator Yung will be one of our high representatives and M. Lapierre, CEO of the French Industrial Property Office the other high representative. More than fifteen countries from the area around the Mediterranean will at-tend the event.

For more information, contact: Anne-Cathe-rine Milleron from INPI France [email protected]

New European ParliamentThe outcome of the last European elections

has been commented at length in particular because of the election of a large number of new Members known for their euro-sceptic views or nationalistic visions of the European Union. As a result:

- the number of non-affiliated members has almost doubled (from 27 to 52),

- although the European Popular Party (EPP) remains the biggest political group - and in that sense won the elections - it has still lost more than 40 seats whereas the Socialist and Demo-crats group (S&D) has gained a few with 7 more seats

News from Brussels and Beyond

- The European Conservatives and Reform-ists Group (ECR) has become the third political force at the expense of the Liberals and Demo-crat Group (ALDE) which lost 17 seats

Although the increase in the number of non-affiliated members is spectacular, this did not affect the balance of representation in the Ob-servatory as the number of political groups is the same as in the previous legislature despite some changes concerning their political weight.

We are pleased to announce the MEP’s nomi-nated to represent the European Parliament in the Observatory:

- European People’s Party Tadeusz Zweifka (PL), Constance Legrip (FR) andLuis de Grandes Pascual (ES)

- Socialists and Democrats Virginie Rozière (FR) and Bernhard Rapkay (DE)

- European Conservatives and Reformists Angel Dzhambazki (BG)

- Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for EuropeJean-Marie Cavada (FR) -

-European United Left–Nordic Green LeftJiri Mastalka (CZ)

- Green PartyPascal Durand (FR)

- Europe of Freedom and Direct DemocracyLaura Ferrara (IT)

mailto:cnac%40inpi.fr%0D?subject=


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OHIM implements IP cooperation projects funded by the EU

OHIM and the European Commission (DG DEVCO) reached an agreement in 2012 under which the Office is implementing IP cooperation projects funded by the European Union.

At present projects with China, the ASEAN countries and Russia are underway. In China, the Office has been implementing a cooperation ac-tion entitled “Intellectual Property: a Key to sus-tainable competitiveness” (IP Key) since last July. The action is the result of an agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the EU for Intellectual Property Cooperation, establishing the so called “New EU-China IP Coop-eration”. The main purpose of IP Key is to support the interests of European innovators and rights holders trading with or investing in China; contrib-uting to a level playing field for European compa-nies operating in China. It intends to contribute to greater transparency and fair implementation of the Chinese IPR protection and enforcement sys-tem, avoiding and discouraging any protectionist market access barriers through the misuse of IPR legislation and to further improve the IPR environ-ment in China.

Besides providing support to DG TRADE in the EU-China IP Dialogue process, the action has organised a series of cooperation activities to address the issues discussed and agreed in the forum with the Chinese counterparts.

These comprise for example peer to peer and best practices exchanges on the utility model sys-tem or on examination, cancellation, opposition and quality assurance in trade marks as well as study visits and follow up workshops on the revi-sion of the Chinese copyrights and patent laws


for example. In the enforcement area, IP Key has provided support to the “EU-China Action Plan on Customs Cooperation on IPR enforcement” and has organised activities on enforcement of trade secrets; deterrence and coordination in criminal enforcement; administrative enforcement and clearance to access the on-line Chinese music market. Activities aiming at the implementation of TMclass, Designview and TMview as well as roving seminars on the CTM, RCD and Chinese patent system, complete the activities implemented so far in 2014.

In the South East Asia region, the cooperation under the ECAP III phase II project, running since 2012, focuses in the regional institutional strength-ening mainly in trade marks, designs and GIs. Enforcement related activities, include a needs assessment survey, a regional meeting on enforce-ment, seminars for customs and police officers and support to the Enforcement Summit taking place later this year in the Philippines, national champion in the region.

The Russian project, which has been up and running since 2012, focuses on the institutional strengthening of IP agencies notably Rospatent.

News from EU Delegation - Mexico DF

Mexico is not only beaches, tequila and historical sites in abundance; it is also an emerg-ing country with advanced industries where IPR protection plays an important role. Different from many other Latin-American countries (which mostly depend on trade in comodities) Mexico is a producer and exporter of industrial products.


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In regular meetings with trade counsellors from

the EU Member States, the delegation also raises is-sues of common interest. Notably, the issue of mis-leading denominations of food and drink products are common concern among the Member States.

This year we had the opportunity to be involved in the visit of the President of EPO (there are coop-eration agreements with IMPI) as well as the visit of colleagues from OHIM (including the Observatory). Notably there was an IP cooperation project in con-nection with the conclusion of the FTA with Mexico, the EU-Mexico Free Trade Agreement Facilitation Project (PROTLCUEM – 16 million Euros). The project sought to strengthen the institutional capacities of government officials. In the IPR case, the IMPI was obviously the main beneficiary, and the technical assistance focused mainly in the preparation of draft laws, as well as training of IMPI personnel and public awareness activities.

Mexico has improved substantially in recent years and authorities have demonstrated their po-litical will to tackle piracy.

Moreover, Mexico is known for advocat-ing market liberalisation and open trade. In this respect, Mexico has concluded a web of free trade agreements (11 FTAs covering 46 countries) - giv-ing the country preferential access to two-thirds of the global economy. Within the framework of the EU-Mexico FTA (in force since 2000), there is an annual Joint Committee (JC) to discuss trade issues of mutual interest in order to ensure the function-ing and proper implementation of the FTA. In this respect, there are also a number of sub-commit-tees to prepare the JC and one of them covers IPR issues.

In these annual meetings (normally by video conference) the EU is represented by colleagues from DG TRADE, DG AGRI (GI issues) and the EU delegation, whilst on the Mexican side you would find representatives from the Ministry of Econo-my, IMPI, the General Prosecutor and the Mexican representation to the EU.

The agenda focuses on enforcement and GI issues; the annual enforcement survey carried out by DG Trade (now in cooperation with the Obser-vatory) plays a vital role in identifying problems that EU companies are facing on the ground.



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Event Calendar

Nordic Regional Seminar on Enforcement 6 — 8 October 2014

Plenary of the Observatory28 — 29 October 2014

Eurojust-Europol-OHIM Seminar on Infringements of IP Rights on the Internet 5 — 7 November 2014

CNAC EUMED25 November 2014

Observatory public sector representatives meeting 26 November 2014

Judges seminar27 November 2014

Observatory working groups25 — 26 Febrauary 2015

Observatory public sector representatives meeting 21 — 23 April 2015

Observatory private sector representatives meeting 29 April 2015

Eurojust-Europol-OHIM knowledge building conference3 — 5 June 2015

Documents

European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property … · 2014-10-17 · jobs and almost 39% of the EU’s GDP. This is the positive side, however, we also know from the