Two years ago, in July 2008 the EU Commission adopted an Industrial
Property Rights Strategy for Europe. It was endorsed by the European
Council in September 2008. In its resolution, the Council invited the
Commission to take affirmative action and deliver key measures, one of
which was the creation of a European Observatory on Counterfeiting and
Piracy.
Combating counterfeit, contraband, and organised crime is also high
on the European Parliament's agenda. Further, it has been Belgian policy
for many years – and lawmakers have been convinced of the necessity to
create a consistent legal framework for the fight against counterfeit.
On a regular basis the Belgian legislator adopts laws and modifies
others in order to improve the protection of IP rights and to extend the
boundaries of criminal law applying to IP infringement.
In that framework, right owners should be aware of the importance of
taking preventive measures, in order to limit the necessity for criminal
prosecution and civil enforcement as much as possible:
- Protect what can be protected and use the different symbols (©, ®,
™) to raise awareness of one's rights and benefit from the presumption
of ownership provided by the international laws.
- Use identification systems such as holograms, detection yarns and
barcodes to simplify identification of counterfeit goods.
- Be clear on quality and pricing and indicate a point of contact to
help the consumers when confronted with offers of counterfeit goods.
- Have the designs, models, trade marks, domain names and patents
watched so that you are able to identify and put an end to IP
infringements at an early stage.
- Use local investigators to check the market and eventually trace the
origin of counterfeit goods.
- File an application for action with the customs authorities in
Belgium. The Port of Antwerp (the second largest in the EU) and busy
airports being the European hubs for air freight carriers, make Belgium a
strategic country for preventing the entry of counterfeit goods into
the EU.
- Collaborate with the customs authorities by explaining the
differences between the original goods and the counterfeits, the pre-tax
value of the genuine goods, the type or pattern of already detected
fraud, etc. Update the information regularly and indicate an expert able
to confirm whether the blocked goods are in fact counterfeit.
- Have the right holder's name listed with the Ministry of Economic
Affairs and police authorities in Belgium. Agents of the Ministry and
police have the authority to seize suspected goods. They can block and
destroy products if they receive the confirmation of the right holder,
or its representative, that the goods are counterfeit, in due time.
Belgian authorities, aware of the importance of the hub position of
Belgium on the European map of counterfeit goods, have a dynamic
attitude for assisting right owners to make proper use of these
preventive measures. It is up to the owners to grasp the opportunities: a
stitch in time saves nine...
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| Lidy-Anne Jeswiet-van Westenbrugge |
GEVERS GROUP
Holidaystraat, 5
B-1831 Diegem - Brussels
Belgium
Tel +32 (0)2 715 37 21
Fax +32 (0)2 720 50 70
www.gevers.com