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New IPR strategy for Europe

The EC recently adopted a Communication on a new industrial property rights (IPR) strategy for Europe. This Communication outlines a number of actions as the keystone to maintain a high quality industrial property rights system for the EU in the 21st century. It aims to support inventors in making informed choices on the protection of their industrial property rights and calls for robust enforcement against counterfeiting and piracy.

The Communication provides a horizontal strategy across the spectrum of different industrial property rights and includes initiatives on enforcement, innovation support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and the quality of industrial property rights. It complements the 2007 Communication on the patent system, which set out a way forward towards the adoption of a Community patent and an integrated EU-wide jurisdiction for patents. As a result of the Communication the EC plans to improve coordination between key enforcement actors at a national level, and will work towards effective cooperation between Member States in intelligence gathering and rapid information exchange on counterfeit and pirated goods. The EC has also planned studies on the quality of the patent system and on the overall functioning of the trademark systems in the EU.

Further information:
EC Press Release IP/08/1157 of 16 August 2008 is available at: europa.eu/rapid/