09 | 02 | 2018

The European Commission Launched a Public Consultation on Future “Counterfeit and Piracy Watch-List”

Illustration: Approved by the European Commission

On 22 January 2018, the European Commission launched a public consultation to establish its first world-wide “Counterfeit and Piracy Watch-List”.

The aim of this public consultation is to identify the marketplaces outside the European Union where counterfeiting, piracy or other forms of intellectual property abuse became common practice, and this initiative is part of the Commission’s strategy announced in the 2017 Communication “A balanced intellectual property enforcement system responding to today’s societal challenges”.

After thorough verification of the information received from the stakeholders during this public consultation, the European Commission intends to publish the aforementioned Watch-List, which will comprise the most problematic online and physical marketplaces that are considered to be engaged in IPR infringements. The list will be updated regularly and it is expected to raise consumer awareness of the risks of purchasing on these marketplaces and to encourage their operators to take the necessary measures to curb IPR infringements. In addition hereto, the European Commission will monitor the measures taken by the local authorities to reduce the availability of IPR infringing goods or services on the listed marketplaces.

Contributions to the public consultation should be sent before 31 March 2018, and it is available via the following link.