The report is available on the Commission’s website. It is part of the Commission’s Strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Third Countries.
The report is largely based on a survey carried out by OHIM, and will help the Commission to revise its list of priority countries on which to focus activities.
The updated list of priority countries is:
Priority 1. China
Priority 2. Argentina, India, Russia, Turkey
Priority 3. Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand, Ukraine, USA, Vietnam.
The Commission is also monitoring developments and reassessing the status of Chile, Colombia, Israel, Paraguay, Peru, South Africa, UAE and Uruguay.
China remains Priority 1 as two-thirds of the goods detained at EU borders in 2013 due to suspected IPR-infringement originated in mainland China. India remains a big concern due to its lack of effective patent protection.
The Philippines and Indonesia have been downgraded form Priority 2 to Priority 3, thanks to improvements in protection and enforcement, while Argentina and Russia have moved from Priority 3 to Priority 2, due to increased concerns. Ecuador has been included in Priority 3 for the first time.
Progress in Israel, in particular in regard to pharmaceutical products, has led to its removal from the Priority Lists.
Issue 055
MARQUES has been active over many years in the discussions leading to the EU trade mark reforms, which were published in May this year. Members of the EU Trade Mark Reform Task Force highlight the good, the bad and the surprising aspects of what has been agreed
OHIM’s online classification services include nearly 5,000 new goods and services from the Madrid system as of 1st July
