Public consultation on the National and Comprehensive Plan to combat the sale of counterfeit products and for the observance of industrial property rights 2023-2026

The Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, O.A. (SPTO) has opened the public consultation period on the National and Comprehensive Plan to combat the sale of counterfeit products and for the observance of industrial property rights 2023-2026.

Until July 19, 2022 inclusive, any interested party can send their observations to the mailbox PlanNacional-Falsificaciones@oepm.es.

The text of the Plan and the form for submitting comments are published at the following link on the SPTO website:

Consulta pública Plan Nacional Antifalsificaciones

Counterfeits are not only financially detrimental to companies and society in general, but they are also a risk to the health of consumers.

One of the general objectives of the SPTO's 2021-2024 Strategic Plan is number 4: promote the fight against counterfeiting and the infringement of industrial property rights (IPR). Includes strategy 4.2. which seeks to promote cooperation between the SPTO and the rest of the relevant actors in the fight against the infringement of Industrial Property rights. The project 4.2.1. it is precisely the one dedicated to promoting a National Plan to fight against the sale of counterfeit products and for the observance of IPRs. The specific objective is to improve interministerial coordination in the fight against counterfeiting.

It is necessary to increase coordination between the agents most involved in this phenomenon of product counterfeiting and IPR infringement. These agents are the State Security Forces and Bodies, customs agents, IPR holders, judges and prosecutors, legislators and the SPTO. Without forgetting the need also for inter-administrative coordination, since the measures to be taken cover various spheres of competence, of the General State Administration, Autonomous Communities and Local Entities.

The germ of this Plan is the creation in 1996 of the Inter-ministerial Commission to act against activities that violate Industrial Property rights, currently regulated by Royal Decree 54/2014, of January 31. And the Report on the background, dimensions and proposals for a Comprehensive Action Plan to combat the illegal sale of counterfeit products and their socioeconomic repercussions, approved by the Council of Ministers on December 14, 2018, which included the preparation of this National Plan, among other measures to be adopted.

The Plan is structured in four axes that contain a total of 50 measures:

1. The coordination axis seeks to improve joint and coordinated actions between the different actors involved in this reality, both national and international, fundamentally in the judicial, customs and police spheres.

2. The axis of regulation focuses on promoting regulations that are appropriate to the new realities of the market and consistent with the international legal environment.

3. The axis of analysis is aimed at achieving harmonization and automation in the system for collecting and managing statistical data from the various sources. This will facilitate providing a real and numerical dimension of the problem, and a clear orientation in the decision-making of public policies in this regard.

4. The axis of awareness and training that aims to increase public awareness of the reality of this phenomenon, through campaigns and training in various fields and groups.

Cheer up to participate! 

Consulta pública Plan Nacional Antifalsificaciones

PlanNacional-Falsificaciones@oepm.es