Intellectual Property Rights

Introduction

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are the rights granted to creators and inventors to control the use made of their productions. They are traditionally divided into two branches :

• "copyright and related rights" for literary and artistic works ;

• "industrial property", which encompasses : trademarks, patents, industrial designs, geographical indications, layout-designs of integrated circuits.

Intellectual property (IP) has significant economic and social implications: it is a tool for the development of cultural creations, new technologies and new products that will eventually be available to the society. Indeed, recording artists, inventors, writers and many other individuals and industries depend on IPRs for a living, for a return on their investment, and crucially for future investment – otherwise, much of this activity would cease.

EU Policy in the field of IPR

Promoting the implementation of effective standards for IP protection world-wide. The WTO Agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) sets minimum standards of protection for each category of right. Each of the main elements of protection is defined: the subject matter to be protected, the rights to be conferred and permissible exceptions to those rights, as well as the minimum duration of protection. One of the EU's objectives is to reach a full implementation of these standards by each WTO Member, with due consideration to the necessary transition periods. Alongside this multilateral framework provided by the WTO, the EU negotiates and implements bilateral agreements with partner countries, which include IP provisions.

Promoting an adequate enforcement of IPRs world-wide and participating in the fight against violations, such as piracy and counterfeiting;

Ensuring that IPRs are supportive to public health objectives, to innovation and to technology transfer;

Cooperating with developing and least developed countries, for which the introduction and enforcement of intellectual property laws is quite a challenge. The EU is currently providing technical co-operation to a significant number of countries in this field;

Reaching specific objectives during the new round of negotiations at the WTO.

Strategy for the enforcement of IPRs in Third Countries

In an effort to halt the increase in piracy and counterfeiting the European Commission has adopted a Communication setting the Strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Third Countries. The action plan focuses on vigorous and effective implementation and enforcement of existing IPR laws. It proposes to identify priority countries where enforcement actions should be concentrated. Stress will be put on technical cooperation and assistance to help third countries fight counterfeiting but the Commission will not hesitate to trigger all bilateral and multilateral sanction mechanisms against any country involved in systematic violations. The Commission will foster awareness raising of users and consumers in third countries and support the creation of public-private partnerships for enforcement.

This Strategy sets the guidelines for the European Commission in the coming years towards a reduction of the level of IPR violations taking place beyond the EU borders, worldwide. It is a logical sequence of recent initiatives, like the Enforcement Directive, that will harmonize enforcement legislation within the European Union, and the revision of the Customs Regulation, that provides action against counterfeit or pirated goods at the Community's border.

The Strategy in detail:
 

• Identifying priority countries: EU action will focus on the most problematic countries in terms of IPR violations. These countries will be identified according to a regular survey to be conducted by the Commission among all stakeholders.

• Awareness raising: promote initiatives to raise public awareness about the impact of counterfeiting (loss of foreign investment and technology transfer, risks to health, link with organised crime, etc.) and make available to the public and to the authorities of third countries concerned a "Guidebook on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights".

• Political dialogue, incentives and technical co-operation: ensuring that technical assistance provided to third countries focuses on IPR enforcement, especially in priority countries; exchanging ideas and information with other key providers of technical co-operation, like the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the US or Japan, with the aim of avoiding duplication of efforts and sharing of best-practices.

• IPR mechanisms in multilateral (including TRIPs), bi-regional and bilateral agreements: raising enforcement concerns in the framework of these agreements more systematically; consulting trading partners with the aim of launching an initiative in the WTO TRIPs Council, sounding the alert on the growing dimension of the problem, identifying the causes and proposing solutions and strengthening IPR enforcement clauses in bilateral agreements.

• Dispute settlement - sanctions: recall the possibility that right-holders have to make use of the Trade Barriers Regulation or of bilateral agreements, in cases of evidence of violations of TRIPs; in addition to the WTO dispute settlement, recall the possibility to use dispute settlement mechanisms included in bilateral agreements in case of non-compliance with the required standards of IPR protection.

• Creation of public-private partnerships: supporting/participating in local IP networks established in relevant third countries; using mechanisms already put in place by Commission services (IPR Help Desk and Innovation Relay Centres) to exchange information with right-holders and associations; build on the co-operation with companies and associations that are very active in the fight against piracy/counterfeiting.

• EU strategy enforcement IPR in third countries
• EU enforcement guidebook