EU Directive on Criminalization and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights

On April 26, 2006, the Commission of the European Communities adopted a proposal for a directive to combat intellectual property offenses, amending the proposal it approved on July 12, 2005. The proposed measures are designed to align EU Members’ criminal legislation, improve cooperation, and more effectively combat counterfeiting and piracy. The EU started to harmonize its criminal enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) with the entry into force of the TRIPs agreement which contains minimum provisions on means of enforcing trade-related intellectual property rights. These include the implementation of criminal procedures and criminal penalties, although there are still major disparities in the legal situation in the Community which do not permit the holders of IPR to benefit from an equivalent level of protection throughout the Community.