Infringement remains a big concern
Infringement continues to have a serious impact on public safety according to the EUIPO's new status report.
The EUIPO has published its 2020 status report on intellectual property right (IPR) infringement.
The report brings together the findings of the research carried out by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) over the past few years.
It highlights the extent, scope and consequences - both economically and non-economically - of IPR infringement in the European Union (EU).
In the report, the EUIPO has estimated lost sales in 11 sectors within the EU as a result of counterfeiting. These losses totalled more than €83 billion per year during the period 2013-2017.
In addition to this, 671 000 jobs in legitimate businesses were lost, and the member states lost €15 billion per year in tax revenue.
It is made clear in the report, that counterfeiting continues to have serious effects on public health.
In March 2020, the EUIPO and the OECD published a joint study on counterfeit medicines, showing that not only ‘lifestyle’ medicines but also medicines to treat serious diseases, including antibiotics, cancer therapies or heart disease medications, are subject to being counterfeited, with potentially deadly consequences for the patients who consume those medicines.
In response to these developments the EUIPO, together with public and private partners, is undertaking and supporting a number of actions to meet these challenges
The EUIPO's Executive Director, Christian Archambeau said:
"It is increasingly clear that the damage to consumers’ health and safety and to the environment as well as the relationship between IP crime and other types of crime requires urgent and coordinated international action.."
"Society as a whole is a victim of IP crime and this report shows, once again, the need for IP enforcement to return as one of the EU priorities in the fight against organised crime."
Click here to read the full status report on IPR Infringement