Plenary Meeting of the Observatory for the Fight against Counterfeiting

After its transfer to the Office for Harmonisation of the Internal Market (OHIM), the Observatory for the Fight against Counterfeiting held its first Plenary Session. This body was previously called the European Union Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights.

Held in September, the meeting was chaired by the President of the OHIM, Antonio Campinos, and by the recently appointed President of the Observatory, the former President of the OHIM Appeals Chambers, Paul Maier.

Working programme 2013
The plenary session brought together representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Member States of the European Union, as well as representatives of EU industries and businesses to discuss the working programme of the Observatory for 2013.

This working programme included the conducting of research to accurately measure the contribution of IP industries to the European economy, to both employment and the GDP. Also included is the drawing up of a data base for the identification of counterfeit products with the aim of helping police forces, customs officers and members of the judiciary in determining whether products are genuine or not, as well as the preparation of training programmes and dissemination of best practices for the protection of Industrial Property rights in Europe. These are just some of the projects covered by the working programme. The Observatory will also include the OHIM Academy.

The President of the OHIM, Antonio Campinos, stated that the Observatory will become a high-level think tank, attracting knowledge and the best practices of other international and EU organisations, so should be able to achieve tangible results.

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