European Parliament Votes to Bolster Intellectual Property Rights Protection

The European Parliament (EP) voted overwhelmingly here to pass a non-legislative resolution on Tuesday in support of a European Union (EU) Action Plan on the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

The EU Action Plan, created by the European Commission and communicated to the EP in July 2014, seeks to create a "holistic, balanced and flexible system" to respond to evolving infringement problems.

With 529 votes in favor, 143 against and 28 abstentions, the EP resolution welcomed the action plan, declaring the objective should be "to ensure the effective, evidence-based enforcement" in order to guarantee fair remuneration for creators and to stimulate innovation and growth.

The economic value of IPR for the EU is critical, with the Commission citing IPR-intensive sectors as contributing "around 39% of EU GDP and, taking indirect jobs into account, up to 35% of all jobs."

The cost of copyright and IPR infringement, therefore, is also substantial, with the Commission indicating that in 2012, EU "customs detentions on suspected violations of IPR at its external border recorded more than 90,000 cases," with almost 40 million articles seized, reaching an estimated value "in terms of equivalent genuine products" approaching 1 billion Euros (1.13 billion U.S. dollars).

The EP voted to increase due diligence throughout supply chains to ensure respect for IPR, to create initiatives to raise consumer awareness of the cost of counterfeit goods, and to develop the means to provide consumers with more legal alternatives.

Ever-extended and global supply chains, coupled with the rise of e-commerce, however, contribute to IPR concerns extending beyond the European single market. As a result, the EP also voted on a separate non-legislative resolution regarding IPR protection in third countries.

"The EU needs better tools to protect EU intellectual property in third countries," the resolution declares.

Voting decisively again, with 521 votes in favor, 164 against and 17 abstentions, the EP urged the commission to undertake "this admittedly 'extremely complex' issue in order to balance the interests of rights holders, economic operators and users."

The resolution asks the Commission address specific challenges in the digital era, and particularly to "engage with online platforms," in order to fight the selling online of counterfeit products.

The EP has also suggested that the EU should add an anti-counterfeiting protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, given the prevalence of organized crime networks in the trafficking of counterfeit goods.

In its communication to the EP, the Commission cites an estimate from the United Kingdom that as much as 81 percent of IP-infringing products are created by organized crime.

(Source: Xinhua)