The Regulations govern when border agencies can seize and destroy counterfeit goods. The Commission has started a consultation process asking citizens, industry and governments to indicate whether or not they think the Regulations need to be changed.
One proposed change is to the cost of holding impounded goods. "Right holders have raised concerns about the attribution of costs resulting from the storage and destruction of infringing goods," the consultation said. "It has been suggested that capacity and costs of storage and destruction create a serious obstacle to the effectiveness and efficiency of the provisions."
The consultation asks whether the current rules fairly demand that rights holders pay the costs of storing and destroying infringing goods. It said that there are other kinds of companies involved that could be forced to share that costs burden.
"What should be the responsibility, regarding costs of storage and destruction, of each of the economic operators involved – voluntarily or involuntarily – in the international trade of IPR infringing goods?" said the consultation. "In addition to the right holders and the holder of the goods, there are several intermediaries involved, such as shippers, carriers, consignors, customs declarants and holders of customs warehouses."
The consultation also asks if the current rules cover the right intellectual property rights (IPR).
"The range of IPR infringements covered by the provisions of the Regulation could vary from 'counterfeit trademark goods' and 'pirated copyright goods' … to any IPR infringement, in particular Copyright and Related Rights, Trademarks, Geographical Indications, Industrial Designs, Patents, Utility Models, Layout- Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Rights," said the consultation.
The consultation also asked whether or not a new regime should be set up to deal with small volumes of counterfeit goods. It said a simplified procedure could be put in place which would not even involve the rights holder.
"The current procedures may not be adapted to tackle the growing problem of sales of IPR infringing goods via the internet effectively, which are usually distributed by post or couriers in small consignments," it said. "A new simplified procedure could be envisaged to deal with this problem, where the right holders would not necessarily be involved and the holder of the goods would be offered the possibility of abandoning the infringing goods for destruction under customs supervision."
The consultation process closes on 25th May.
