Counterfeiting and piracy: how to minimise the damage

01 July 2010

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...