Considerations on COM(2003)20 - Customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed such rights - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2003)20 - Customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2003)20  |
| date | July 22, 2003 |
(2) The marketing of counterfeit and pirated goods, and indeed all goods infringing intellectual property rights, does considerable damage to law-abiding manufacturers and traders and to right-holders, as well as deceiving and in some cases endangering the health and safety of consumers. Such goods should, in so far as is possible, be kept off the market and measures adopted to deal effectively with this unlawful activity without impeding the freedom of legitimate trade. This objective is consistent with efforts under way at international level.
(3) In cases where counterfeit goods, pirated goods and, more generally, goods infringing an intellectual property right originate in or come from third countries, their introduction into the Community customs territory, including their transhipment, release for free circulation in the Community, placing under a suspensive procedure and placing in a free zone or warehouse, should be prohibited and a procedure set up to enable the customs authorities to enforce this prohibition as effectively as possible.
(4) Customs authorities should also be able to take action against counterfeit goods, pirated goods and goods infringing certain intellectual property rights which are in the process of being exported, re-exported or leaving the Community customs territory.
(5) Action by the customs authorities should involve, for the period necessary to determine whether suspect goods are indeed counterfeit goods, pirated goods or goods infringing certain intellectual property rights, suspending release for free circulation, export and re-export or, in the case of goods placed under a suspensive procedure, placed in a free zone or a free warehouse, in the process of being re-exported with notification, introduced into the customs territory or leaving that territory, detaining those goods.
(6) The particulars of the application for action, such as its period of validity and form, need to be defined and harmonised in all Member States. The same applies to the conditions governing the acceptance of applications by the customs authorities and the service designated to receive, process and register them.
(7) Even where no application has yet been lodged or approved, the Member States should be authorised to detain the goods for a certain period to allow right-holders to lodge an application for action with the customs authorities.
(8) Proceedings initiated to determine whether an intellectual property right has been infringed under national law will be conducted with reference to the criteria used to establish whether goods produced in that Member State infringe intellectual property rights. This Regulation does not affect the Member States' provisions on the competence of the courts or judicial procedures.
(9) To make the Regulation easier to apply for customs administrations and right-holders alike, provision should also be made for a more flexible procedure allowing goods infringing certain intellectual property rights to be destroyed without there being any obligation to initiate proceedings to establish whether an intellectual property right has been infringed under national law.
(10) It is necessary to lay down the measures applicable to goods which have been found to be counterfeit, pirated or generally to infringe certain intellectual property rights. Those measures should not only deprive those responsible for trading in such goods of the economic benefits of the transaction and penalise them but should also constitute an effective deterrent to further transactions of the same kind.
(11) To avoid disrupting the clearance of goods carried in travellers' personal baggage, it is appropriate, except where certain material indications suggest commercial traffic is involved, to exclude from the scope of this Regulation goods that may be counterfeit, pirated or infringe certain intellectual property rights when imported from third countries within the limits of the duty-free allowance accorded by Community rules.
(12) In the interests of this Regulation's effectiveness, it is important to ensure the uniform application of the common rules it lays down and to reinforce mutual assistance between the Member States and between the Member States and the Commission, in particular by recourse to Council Regulation (EC) No 515/97 of 13 March 1997 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs and agricultural matters(2).
(13) In the light of the experience gained in the implementation of this Regulation, inter alia, consideration should be given to the possibility of increasing the number of intellectual property rights covered.
(14) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(3).
(15) Regulation (EC) No 3295/94 should be repealed.