On April 18, the European Commission published its Report on the operation of the Memorandum of Agreement on the sale of counterfeit goods over the Internet.
This Memorandum of Agreement, signed on May 4, 2011, aims to establish a code of practice to combat the sale of counterfeit goods over the Internet and improve collaboration between its signatories. The Memorandum of Understanding promotes trust in the online marketplace by offering detailed measures to disrupt and disable online offers of counterfeit goods, as well as improve protection for consumers who unintentionally purchase imitations and for legal sellers of goods from whom They may feel that they are being unduly restricted or delayed in presenting a product for sale online. It encompasses 39 different Internet sites, including Amazon and e-Bay, as well as 33 companies and professional associations of major brands in the field of fast-moving consumer goods, consumer electronics, fashion, luxury goods, sporting goods, movies, computer programs, games and toys.
El Memorandum of Agreement establishes proportionate and dissuasive measures against those who repeatedly try to sell counterfeits, promoting a strategy based on three means of defense simultaneously and in real time:
- make available to buyers and sellers appropriate information so that they understand the phenomenon of counterfeiting, the risks it entails for consumers and its effects on rights holders,
- proactive and preventive measures to ensure that offers of counterfeit goods do not appear online, and
- simple, fair and expeditious notification and takedown procedures to remove online offers for these products. It is complemented by better protection for consumers, who may receive another product in exchange or a refund under certain conditions, and a series of deterrent actions against repeat infringers.
The aforementioned Memorandum of Agreement provided for the evaluation of its operation within a period of 12 months from its signature, as provided for in arts. 40 and 41 of the Memorandum, resulting in this period being extended for another 6 months by unanimous vote of the signatories.
The report now published by the Commission analyzes the development, implementation and operation of the Memorandum of Understanding and takes stock of how signatories assess its effectiveness in reducing the sale of counterfeit goods in the EU, via the Internet. In the report The following data are revealed, among others:: some rights holders have systematically launched trial purchasing programs, all platforms continue to have offers of counterfeit products on their websites and sellers have become more clever in presenting their offers, one Internet platform blocked or severely restricted the accounts of more than 8.600 sellers in the third quarter of 2012, on another platform counterfeits decreased from 40% to 0% in a specific product category, another platform detected a halving of the number of repeat offenders, Sales of counterfeits are moving to platforms not adhering to the Memorandum of Understanding and some rights holders are spending more than €3 million a year on measures to protect their brands, including monitoring online services and reporting illicit offers.
This report shows that the approach adopted by the Memorandum of Agreement works, but highlights the need for internet platforms and rights holders to remain alert and vigilant. It concludes that the Memorandum of Agreement should be extended for two more years and that the number of signatory parties should be expanded.
The Commission is considering new measures to combat counterfeiting more generally and could propose an initiative before the end of 2013.
Author Juan José Caselles
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