Up to 6% of EU imports were counterfeit products in 2019, with a total value of 119 billion euros. It is estimated that the cosmetics sector alone loses €3 billion every year… It is to combat this phenomenon that the European Commission adopted this Recommendation on 19 March 2024, which is presented as a toolbox designed to increase companies’ resilience and ability to better protect their intangible assets, including against cyber-theft.
This Recommendation aims to combat counterfeiting, both offline and online, and enhance the enforcement of intellectual property rights, by fostering collaboration between rights holders, service providers, and law enforcement, while encouraging best practices and the use of modern tools and technologies.
The actions it proposes include:
• Designating a single contact point for IP enforcement matters and extending the use of existing tools, such as the IP Enforcement Portal made available by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)
• Boosting the role of signatories of the Memorandum of Understanding on counterfeiting as “trusted flaggers”
• Adapting procedures to counter new counterfeiting practices, addressing issues like mirror websites with dynamic injunctions, optimising information sharing in court proceedings, and ensuring appropriate compensation for damages, including both material and moral damages
• Promoting the use of alternative dispute resolution for all IP disputes, offering a cost-effective and efficient option, especially for cross-border disputes and SMEs
• Reassess and potentially increase the maximum sanctions on serious criminal intellectual property offences
• Empower market surveillance authorities to further detect and combat counterfeiting
• Develop practices aiming at faster, cheaper, and more ecological storage and disposal of counterfeits
• Adapting IP practices to AI and virtual …
