Protecting the intellectual property of European businesses worldwide: the Commission steps up its efforts

The European Commission has published the latest version of its report on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights for European businesses worldwide. Although progress has been made since the publication of the previous version of this report, several concerns remain, and for this reason, various areas for intervention and corresponding actions to be taken have been identified.

Intellectual property infringements cost European businesses billions of euros in lost revenue and put thousands of jobs at risk.

The Commission has therefore identified three categories of countries considered priorities for intervention:

1) China

2) India, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine

3) Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Thailand

The China is the primary focus for efforts, as it is the leading country for counterfeit goods entering the European Union, both in terms of value and volume. It is worth noting that over 80% of counterfeit goods seized by customs authorities originate from China and Hong Kong.

Regarding the strategies followed by the Commission, it is currently engaged in a series of dialogues, working groups, and technical programmes with key countries and regions such as China, Latin America, Africa, and South-East Asia.

Furthermore, the Commission will continue to implement other actions such as providing technical support for accession to international treaties in the sector, organising awareness-raising seminars for small businesses on the importance of intellectual property, training customs officials, judges, and police on the enforcement of these rights, and providing training for patent examiners.

The Commission also actively contributes to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights at a multilateral level with the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The updated report can be downloaded at the bottom of this news item.

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