Press Release: Customs: Commission publishes 2008 statistics of Customs actions to enforce intellectual property rights at the EU’s external border

Statistics just published by the European Commission relating to goods infringing intellectual property rights (IPR), showed for the sixth consecutive year a significant increase in customs activity. In 2008, customs registered over 49,000 cases of goods detained at the EU's external border, suspected of IPR infringements. Compared with 43,000 cases in 2007, this increase showed a further strengthening in cooperation between customs and industry, enabling customs to better target suspected shipments and to recognize IPR infringing goods. The number of articles detained more than doubled in 2008 to 178 million, of which about 20 million were potentially dangerous to the health and safety of European consumers.

European Commission: MEMO/09/327: 2008 customs detentions of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) infringing goods – Frequently Asked Questions http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/327&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

---