Three years after the Observatory published its first studies, most aspects related to IP and its importance have been mapped, and the Observatory’s role is to contribute in these matters in order to efficiently and effectively fight against counterfeiting and piracy.
In addition to the 28 EU Member States, the Observatory now includes 63 organisations representing the private sector, seven organisations representing civil society and consumers, 10 MEPs and 10 European and 
international organisations and agencies that act as observers.
In 2017 the European Commission will carry out an evaluation to assess the operation of Regulation 386/2012, in particular as regards its impact on the enforcement of IP rights in the internal market. The Observatory operates under a Multiannual Work Plan 2014-2018, which is also the basis for the Annual Work Programme.
Recent activities
The present Work Programme includes projects that continue work begun in previous years. The Observatory’s most recent activities include the following:
• Raising awareness in society in general, with special focus on young citizens and SMEs.
• The publication of several studies and reports. Most publications are available on its website.
• Development of The Enforcement Database (EDB), first launched in 2014. This now contains almost 400 companies. In 2016 the first Applications for Action were sent electronically, and more enforcement authorities have joined (see list)
• The Anti-Counterfeiting Intelligent Support Tool (ACIST) has grown, and now includes harmonised internal market detentions from police authorities of a majority of Member States.
• The Anti-Counterfeiting Intelligence Support Tool (ACRIS) has been developed. It allows EU companies to report information about infringements to be followed up by local authorities outside of the EU.
• A new page was published on the Observatory’s website which provides answers to 15 of the most common questions European consumers have regarding copyright in the digital environment.
• agorateka – a new online portal that helps consumers find legal digital content, such as music, films and TV, e-books and video games - was launched. The portal has information on France, Latvia, Portugal and the UK, and more countries will join in 2017.
In 2017 two judges’ seminars and a judges’ symposium will be held in respectively May, September and November. A prosecutor’s network event will be organised during the autumn in cooperation with Eurojust, and two regional enforcement seminars will take place in the spring. An international IP enforcement summit will be organised in June in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry of Justice Consumer Protection.
The Observatory’s five Working Groups, made up of a network of public and private sector representatives, have planned several activities for 2017:
Public awareness
• Targeting youth, including deployment of awareness actions in Member States.
• Helping SMEs protect their IP rights.
• IP Education Network: This network is of a voluntary and informal nature and is made up of representatives of the Ministries of Education and specialised stakeholders.
• Repetition of IP Perception Study.
Enforcement
• Enforcement Database (EDB): Work to create interoperability with WCO’s IPM system; efforts to continue enlarging number of enforcement authorities using the tool.
• Anti-Counterfeiting Intelligence Support Tool (ACIST): Collection of available statistical data from competent authorities.
• Data collection, analysis, reporting: Mapping of national authorities dealing with IPR enforcement and of the databases they use.
• Special focus on online infringements: EUIPO will continue financing the activities of the Europol IP Crime Coordination Centre, seeking to increase information gathering, monitoring trends and more. Mutual reporting between Europol and the Observatory.
• Virtual IP Training Centre: Cooperation between EUIPO and different EU agencies, including Europol, on creation of Virtual IP Training Centre for enforcement authorities.
Legal and international
• Case law collection and analysis.
• Study on legislative measures related to online IPR infringement.
• Report on trade secret litigation trends.
• Study on the costs on enforcing IP rights.
• Support the protection of IP rights outside the EU.
• Approach to collecting data and information from Member States.
IP in the digital world
• Help consumers to better differentiate legitimate from infringing websites – the tool agorateka will be deployed by further Member States.
• Analysis of business models in copyright-based creative industries.
• Research on business models most commonly used to infringe IP online.
• Study on correlation between piracy and malware.
• Orphan Works Database: Further promotion of the use of this database, which provides information related to orphan works contained in public establishments in the Member States.
• Feasibility analysis for the establishment of a Digital Deposit System (Soleau envelope) at EU level.
• New generic top-level domains introduced by ICANN – assessment of potential problems for trade mark owners. The Observatory evaluates whether it has a potential role in this issue.
• Registry of out-of-commerce works – the role of the Observatory in setting up a registry will be evaluated.
Economics and statistics
• Quantification of infringement.
• Study of open licensing – Impact of public domain works in the film industries was analysed in 2016. This may be expanded to other types of content, such as Wikipedia, open-source software and infringement or misuse of open source content.
• Econometric analysis of IP Perception Study, IP Youth Scoreboard and SME Scoreboard data.
• Use of IPR bundles by European firms.
• The link between IPR and innovation – studies on the relationship between patents, trade marks and designs and innovation.
• Creation of a measurement framework (satellite accounts) for EU creative industries.
• Valuation of IP assets – development of a methodology for valuing a company’s stock of trade marks and other IP rights by constructing an econometric model that could estimate the values. Especially relevant for SMEs.
• Measurement of KPIs related to the MoU on the sale of counterfeit goods over the internet – in cooperation with the European Commission.
The full Work Programme for 2017 is available online.
Kristina Edén Johnsen is an attorney-at-law with Acapo in Norway and a member of the ACPT Team
Issue 074
Kristina Edén Johnsen of the 
The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) has implemented the 
