29 April 2022

CLECAT JOINS DIALOGUE ON EU TOOLBOX AGAINST COUNTERFEITING

On 27 April, CLECAT participated in a workshop on transport and logistics, forming part of the stakeholder dialogue on the EU Toolbox against counterfeiting, organised by the European Commission and the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

During the workshop, a presentation was given on the state of play of the EU Toolbox against counterfeiting, following which an extensive discussion was held between the stakeholders, the Commission and the EUIPO on identified trends, challenges and good practices to prevent the use of transport and logistics services for IP-infringing activities.

CLECAT welcomes the introduction of an EU Toolbox to step up the fight against counterfeiting, based on reported practices and principles developed in the context of various industry-led initiatives. As also previously communicated in a position paper forming part of the call for evidence, CLECAT stressed that whilst LSPs are supportive of due diligence by inspecting suspicious consignments, it is unreasonable, disproportionate and impossible to oblige LSPs to proactively investigate, exchange information, supervise and implement systems for the detection of IPR infringements. Physical controls of the goods to detect counterfeits must stay with national or EU authorities, as it would be disproportionate to task LSPs to make informed, legally binding judgments on the authenticity of inspected goods, even for staff which is trained and employed to check goods for IPR infringements. 

CLECAT also notes that a differentiation must be made between different types of service providers on the market, as logistic service providers (LSPs) cannot be considered as intermediaries in the same way as online platforms or trade intermediaries. Also, existing case law should be considered, which shows that the services of an intermediary in relation to branded goods owned by the rightholder (i.e. trademarks) do not qualify as "use of the trademark in the course of tradeā€, and thus, the intermediary cannot be held responsible for an infringement of IP rights in that regard.

The full position paper setting out the views, concerns and recommendations of the European freight forwarding, transport and logistics industry on the EU Toolbox against counterfeiting can be accessed here.