Intellectual property : European case law on infringements of intellectual property rights

European Case Law on infringements of intellectual property rights

Intellectual Property has taken on an exceptional importance in a post-industrial economy. The report on Intellectual Property rights intensive industries, published by the EUIPO and the EPO in 2013, shows that these sectors of industry account directly for 26 % of employment in the European Union, generate 39 % of the EU's GDP and account for 90 % of the EU's exports.

This explains also the importance of the infringement phenomenon. Counterfeiters and pirates make a lot of money with these illegal activities. Social costs are high. Consumers are deceived. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are lost. In addition, fake products can be extremely dangerous. The fight against infringement must, therefore, be an indisputable priority.

However, in the case of the European Union this fight is complicated by the fact that, along Union wide IP rights, national rights co-exist and national legal and judicial traditions carry on.

Courts have a vital role to play in this fight. The objective of this book, which has been strongly supported by the EUIPO and the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights, is to provide a panorama of the European situation considered as a whole. It focuses on main topics (inter alia, competence of the courts, seizure, evidence, customs regulation and damages) through the case law not of a specific country, but of different national jurisdictions and, of course, the European Court of Justice. It has been written by a team composed of prestigious academics and practitioners from ten different countries.

For all those who are involved in IP law (lawyers, IP attorneys, decision makers, members of the judiciary, academics, observers...), this book should become a benchmark.