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July 27, 2010

EU reports a decrease in the number of customs seizures of counterfeit goods

The European Commission published its yearly report on pirated and counterfeit goods that were seized at the European Union's borders in 2009.

There has been a decrease both in the number of customs interventions involving goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights (IPR) an intellectual property rights (IPR) and in the number of goods detained, compared to the previous year. In 2009, over 43,500 cases of such goods were stopped by customs, totalling 118 million articles compared to 49.000 cases and 178 million articles in 2008. The relative decrease in the number of cases in 2009 is mostly due to the global economic downturn.

Despite the quantity decrease, the Report shows an upward trend in the variety of goods suspected of violating intellectual property rights.

The report notes that, while in the past luxury goods were the most hit by IPR infringements, more and more items used by citizens in their daily lives are now affected. Of the top categories detained, cigarettes accounted for 19%, other tobacco products 16%, brand labels 13% and medicines 10%.

Products for daily use and posing a potential danger to citizens' health, such as shampoos, toothpaste, toys, medicines or household appliances, also accounted for a significant part.

China continued to be the main source of IPR infringing products, totalling 64% of the total of IPR infringing articles while other countries such as United Arab Emirates and Egypt accounted for the majority in certain product categories.

More than 77% of all detained products were destroyed or a court case was initiated to determine the infringement.