European Commission adopts ‘follow the money’ approach to enforcement of IP rights

The European Commission has adopted two communications – an action plan to address infringements of IP rights in the European Union and a strategy for the protection and enforcement of IP rights in third countries - focusing EU IP rights enforcement policy on commercial-scale infringements. The plan sets a number of actions, including the following:

• Develop and launch a new generation of targeted communication campaigns to raise awareness on the impact of commercial-scale IP infringements.
• Initiate a debate on applying due diligence in supply chains and develop a policy initiative in this field.
• Agree memoranda of understanding to address the profits of commercial-scale IP infringements in the online environment.
• Analyse national initiatives to improve IP civil enforcement procedures for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in respect of small claims procedures and consider possible action in this field.
• Review national schemes assisting SMEs to enforce their IP rights.
• Establish a Member State Expert Group on IP Enforcement to share best practices on the work of national enforcement authorities.
• Develop a comprehensive set of sectoral IP enforcement training programmes for member state authorities.
• Compile a guide on best practices to help public authorities avoid purchasing counterfeit products.
• Publish a biennial report for more effective monitoring of the impact of the European Union’s IP enforcement policy.

These actions will be carried out in 2014 and 2015.