The EUIPO is hosting the European Intellectual Property Prosecutors’ Network Workshop

It was my pleasure today to welcome delegates to the first presential European Intellectual Property Prosecutors’ Network (EIPPN) workshop held since the beginning of the pandemic.

I was joined by László Venczl, the National Member for Hungary and the Eurojust Contact Point to the EUIPO, as well as delegates from all around the world.

Over the next two days they will discuss the important issues of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, international judicial cooperation in IP cases, and IP crime investigation and prosecution practice, with a special focus on online marketplaces and publishing.

All of these issues were already the subject of intense focus in pre-pandemic times. However, due to the current Covid-19 situation, that focus has only intensified, and our renewed efforts benefit from a common and coordinated approach.

To this end, in March this year we signed a service level agreement with EUROJUST that allowed us to provide 750 000 euros in extra funding until the end of 2024. This funding will allow EUROJUST to increase their capacity to fight serious transborder IP crime through effective international judicial cooperation.

We also published an in-depth study on international judicial cooperation in March. This study presented the legislative framework at EU and international level and documented the essential role of judicial cooperation by looking at particularly relevant IP crime case studies.

And of course, the workshop will focus on IP crime as one of the main priorities during the next EMPACT cycle (EMPACT: European multi-disciplinary platform against criminal threats). The EU’s Council of Ministers included IP crime among the top ten priorities in May this year when setting the EU priorities for 2022 to 2025 for the fight against serious and organised crime through EMPACT. This includes a new priority on economic crime that covers, among other things, ‘IP crime, counterfeiting of goods and currencies.

We have repeatedly emphasised the importance of having IP enforcement return as one of the EMPACT priorities, and now that it has, we must look forward and lend our full support to its implementation.

In addition, we will be working in close cooperation with EUROPOL on the development of an IP crime investigation handbook for law enforcement and the judiciary.

More information here: https://www.europol.europa.eu/crime-areas-and-statistics/empact

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