EU Council urges Commission to do more on counterfeits
The Council of the European Union has urged member states to step up cooperation on tackling the “unacceptably high” number of counterfeit goods available on online marketplaces.
The comments came as part of conclusions adopted by the Council on Tuesday, November 10, dealing with IP policy.
According to the document, the European Commission should provide country-by-country data on levels of counterfeiting and piracy in the bloc, and suggest more policies to compel online platforms to deal with the problem.
The wide-ranging document also touched on other recent developments in IP policy, including the entering into force of the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement, an international treaty governing geographical indications (GIs).
The Geneva Act, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), came into effect in February this year. The EU acceded to the treaty last November, clearing the way for the agreement to become law.
The system allows the international registration of GIs and appellations of origin through a single registration procedure with WIPO. GIs are mainly used to enforce rules on the branding of food and drink products.
In the conclusions, the Council said there was a further need to strengthen the EU’s protection of GIs, and said it “stands ready” to consider a system for protecting non-agricultural products as well.
GIs have proven a point of contention between the EU and the US, which does not impose as stringent requirements as Europe. Each side has looked to cement their position on GIs in free trade negotiations.
In September, Australia began a consultation process on GIs as part of negotiations with the EU for a free trade agreement (FTA). The EU is seeking protection for hundreds of GIs in Australia as part of the deal.
“The government has made no commitment to protect specific EU GIs and has made clear it would only consider doing so if the overall FTA deal was good enough for Australia, including by delivering on Australia’s agricultural market access interests,” the country’s IP office has said.
The UK has also signalled its intention to roll out its own GI system at the end of the Brexit transition period in January.
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