Enforcing IPR: where theory turns
to action
Marie Pattullo
AIM, European Brands Association
WIPO Forum on IP and SMEs
14 September 2007
AIM: who are we?

European Brands Association (Association des Industries
de Marque)

Mission statement: “To create for brands an
environment of fair and vigorous competition, fostering
innovation and guaranteeing maximum value to
consumers”

Counterfeiting today affects more and more everyday
goods, affecting more and more unsuspecting
consumers
AIM®
The benefits of brands

A contract of confidence with the consumer: repeat purchases
based on trust re fitness for purpose, quality and ingredients etc.

Allow consumers to differentiate and to choose what they
actually want to purchase

Innovation: for each extra €1 spent on research and development,
brands generate €2 of extra value compared to just €1 for other
business types (“Of brands and growth” – PIMS, 2004)

Brands boost employment: EU employment growth in innovative
industries like branding is twice that of other sectors (DG III European
Commission, 1995)

All of the above are destroyed by counterfeiting and piracy
AIM®
AIM Anti-Counterfeiting Committee

Major industry coalition; companies, national anticounterfeiting groups (including Promarca in CH),
sectoral and non-sectoral bodies

Mission:
 To act as a strong, coherent voice for European
industry in the fight against the manufacture,
distribution and sale of counterfeit and pirated items
 To engage in world-wide co-operation with all public
and private sector stakeholders, including law
enforcement agencies and public policy makers
AIM®
EUROPEAN INDUSTRY COORDINATION
AIM Anti-Counterfeiting
Committee
Cross-Sectoral
Members
AIM,
BUSINESSEUROPE,
ECTA, BMD,
ICC-BASCAP…
Corporate Members
Bacardi-Martini, BatMARK,
Beiersdorf, Cadbury-Schweppes,
Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Diageo,
Ferrero, Georgia-Pacific, GSK,
Heineken, Henkel,Lego,L’Oreal,
LVMH, Microsoft, Nestlé, Nokia,
Pernod-Ricard, Philips, P&G,
Reckitt-Benckiser, Sara Lee
International, Unilever…
Sectoral Members
Europe
COLIPA, IFSP,
TABD…
BIEM, Comité Colbert, EFPIA,
EURATEX, FESI, IFPI, IVF,
MPA, TIE…
National AntiCounterfeiting Group
Members
ABAC-BAAN, ACG, APM,
IACC, INDICAM,
Union de Fabricants…
European
institutions
Global
CACP, QBPC, GMA,
INTA, OECD, UNECE,
WCO, WTO,
WIPO…
AIM®
ACRONYMS
ABAC-BAAN: Belgian anti-counterfeiting group
ACG: Anti-Counterfeiting Group UK
AIM: European Brands Association
APM: German anti-counterfeiting group
BIEM: Bureau des sociétés gérant les Droits
d’Enregistrement et de reproduction Mécanique
BMD: United Brands Association, Turkey
CACP: Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy
COLIPA: European Cosmetic Toiletry & Perfumery
Association
Comité Colbert: French luxury goods association
ECTA: European Communities Trade Mark
Association
EFPIA: European Federation of Pharmaceutical
Industries and Associations
EURATEX: European Apparel and Textile
Organisation
FESI: European Sporting Goods Industry
GMA: Grocery Manufacturers of America
IACC: International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition
ICC-BASCAP: International Chamber of Commerce
– Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting & Piracy
INDICAM: Italian anti-counterfeiting association
IFPI: International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry
IFSP: International Federation of Spirits Producers
INTA International Trademark Association
IVF: International Video Federation
MPA: Motion Picture Association
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation &
Development
QBPC: Quality Brands Protection Committee
TABD: Transatlantic Business Dialogue
TIE: Toy Industries of Europe
Union de Fabricants: French anti-counterfeiting
association
UNECE: United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe
WCO: World Customs Organisation
WTO: World Trade Organisation
WIPO: World Intellectual property Organisation
AIM®
Enforcement must be…

… seen as the obvious corollary to registration – the
defence and protection of a right, in this case an IP right

… practical, not theoretical

… collaborative; joint industry action (e.g. AIM AntiCounterfeiting Committee), joint action with law
enforcement and joined-up policing within law
enforcement

… available and accessible
AIM®
Problems with enforcement

Varies hugely from country to country, even within the
EU, e.g.:
 look-alikes/parasitic copies
 Enforcement and UCP Directives
 interpretation of Customs Regulation
 right to information
 criminal sanctions

Non-accountability of land owners who allow market
traders to deal in fakes & content providers/ISPs who
allow fakes on their Internet sites
AIM®
Why is enforcement a problem?
 Different
level of appreciation of seriousness of
IPR fraud in different countries
 Unequal
expertise of the judiciary, Customs,
police etc.
 Lack
of resources
 The
bottom line: because the laws we have are
not enforced!
AIM®
Current EU activities

Customs:
• Suggested amendments to Customs Regulation (1983/2003)
• Zero tolerance concerns
• Intelligence sharing
• Resource fears

Criminal sanctions proposal – ongoing contacts with institutions and Member States as
to next steps

Watching brief on national implementation/Commission’s study on transposition of
Enforcement Directive, concerns over right to information (etc)

DG ENTR: (1) Study on effects of counterfeiting on EU SMEs and a review of various
public and private IPR enforcement initiatives and resources; final report expected end
2007 (2) study on use of IPR by SMEs:
http://www.proinnoeurope.eu/NWEV/uploaded_documents/IPR_Expert_group_report_final_23_07_07.pdf
(3) IPR awareness and enforcement project (including an enhanced version of the
previous IPR Helpdesk); (4) regional seminars for SMEs…
AIM®
Suggested Governmental action
 Give
Customs more resources and train up more
IPR specialists
 Train
the judiciary to understand counterfeiting &
piracy; dedicated IPR judges
 Specialist
police units also needed; appreciation
of knock-on effects on other crimes; cross-border
cooperation (e.g. Interpol); IPR crimes should
also be recorded in national crime statistics
AIM®
LEAs/Rightholders joint action
 Enforcement
MUST be collaborative
 Rightholders
MUST file Customs applications!
 Involvement
of rightholders in investigations and
exchange of information – i.e. both ways - with
LEAs, including regular meetings
 Joint
training sessions – e.g. operational training
by DG TAXUD, WCO etc.
AIM®
More international coordination?
 TRIPs:
we have it, it would take years to replace
it, so let’s use it and enforce it
 Active,
practical measures – more specialist
Customs, police and judges; exchanging officers
from different jurisdictions; sharing best
practices…
 ENFORCING
 Enforcement
THE LAWS WE ALREADY HAVE!
is not just a word. It is action.
AIM®
Thanks for listening.
Marie Pattullo
AIM - European Brands Association
9 Avenue des Gaulois
B-1040 Bruxelles
marie.pattullo@aim.be
www.aim.be
AIM®