The Book

Second Edition (2012) Out Now !

The book is a practical guide to using border measures against the importation of goods infringing intellectual property rights into the European Union. It provides for a coherent and comprehensive overview of the application of the border measures regime under Regulation (EC) 1383/2003 and national laws in the EU Member States, covering practical aspects of problems involving multi-state abuses of intellectual property rights (including how to contact Customs authorities and useful website addresses).

Providing a practical analysis of anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy measures at the borders of the European Union, this book deals with all aspects of border measures under Regulation (EC) 1383/2003. It includes a thorough description of the implementation of the regime and also looks at areas of national law, giving a coherent and comprehensive overview of the application of the border measures regime within the European Union.

First released in 2006, the work has been fully updated in the second edition (due for publication on 5 July 2012) to include Bulgaria and Romania. The work thus provides important guidance for intellectual property rights-holders on the practical application of border measures in the 27 Member States. Coverage of the legislation and guidance is also updated to include commentary on Commission Regulation 1172/2007, which created a new application for action form for the applications based on a “Community right”, as well as the DG TAXUD manual for filing applications for action under Regulation 1383/2003. Updates to case law include important recent decisions in relation to goods in transit, sanctions against traffickers when a case has been settled under the simplified procedure, Community applications for action, and the ECJ’s Advocate-General’s opinion on the use of information provided to an intellectual property rights-holder during a border seizure of goods. This second edition also considers the fundamental changes to the national Customs authorities’ detention and seizure procedures in respect of in-transit goods.

New material further includes a new stakeholder mapping section explaining the respective roles of the many international organisations that are active in the enforcement of intellectual property rights such as WIPO, WCO, WHO, OLAF, EUROPOL, and INTERPOL as well as a new chapter on organized crime in light of its increasing occurrence within counterfeiting networks.

Readership: Intellectual Property practitioners, in-house lawyers, patent attorneys, companies, collecting societies, public authorities, and academics. This manual is the very first English language publication dealing with the practical application of Regulation 1383/2003 in all 27 Member Countries of the European Union.

Additional information is available on the publisher’s website.


Reviews

Reviews from the second edition

IP LAWYER WORKING IN THE EU? THIS BOOK IS WHAT YOU NEED

’Counterfeiting and piracy: a 21st century pandemic’ is the heading that prefaces the remarks made in the foreword of this distinctly valuable book. In fact, we would have to say, an indispensable book, especially if you happen to be an intellectual property lawyer, whether independent or in-house.

The editors, Marius Schneider and Olivier Vrins, are even more robust in their condemnation of the deluge — make that a world-wide cataclysmic tsunami — of counterfeited and pirated goods, brands, trademarks and so forth, currently flooding the world’s markets.

In the Preface, they are happy to call it a ’plague’ which it unfortunately is, as evidenced alone by the multiplicity of figures and statistics quoted in this book. ’Scourge’ and ’gangrene’ are other descriptions which are accurate enough when you consider the many and manifold repercussions of this type of crime.

As expressed by many of the no less than 70 learned contributors to this work – now in its second edition from OUP – the phenomena of piracy and counterfeiting are a threat to consumers worldwide.

… This formidable and eminently readable work of reference analyses the way in which a European Regulation – Regulation 1383/2003 – works and is applied in each EU Member State – and the modes of application certainly do vary, mainly due to differences in interpretation…

One of the many beauties of this book is Section IV on Border Measures at the National Level – in which you can look up who’s doing what about the enormity of this problem in each and every member state of the EU, from Austria and Belgium, to Spain, Sweden and the UK.

Other sections include in-depth comment and analysis on counterfeiting and piracy with respect to, for instance – its economic and social consequences… the international background and legal framework… and of course, the legal framework in the EU itself.

Particularly intriguing is the chapter on the involvement of organized crime, including criminal multinationals, routes to market and modus operandi, as well as a summary of the current situation and outlook.

As evident from its usefully detailed table of contents, this book of over 1,000 pages is logically structured, with each chapter having an introduction and conclusion. There’s a detailed index at the back and at least fifty-five pages of tables of cases and legislation and of treaties and agreements… Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

Reviews from the first edition

… is a practical contribution to the concerted fight against counterfeiting and piracy. The book provides a detailed, structured analysis of the border measures currently in place in each of the 25 Eurupean Union countries. It contains extensive references to case law, the day-to-day practice of customs authorities and further advice on sound commercial practices. … The weighty volume (some 1,400 pages) is a practical tool for any IP rights holders, lawyers, and enforcement authorities involved in cross-border trade with or within the EU, as well as being a reference work for academics and libraries. WIPO Magazine 4/2006 p 17

Vrins and Schneider are to be commended for producing a book that provides a compendium of jurisdictional practice along with a commentary of how the Community legislation works. … The editors could not have chosen their general commentators better: Michael Blakeney, Daniel Gervais, and Jeremy Phillips are probably the three pre-eminent experts in this field; the other local authors have all been carefully chosen as leaders in their particular country. …the book makes a valiant, authoritative, and successful attempt to provide reliable and accurate guidance on the principal features of the Community regulations as well as any local practice. …it should be a standard text book for any practitioner who is serious about being involved in border control measures relating to intellectual property. Ashley Roughton, Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice, Oxford University Press, 2006, Vol 1, N° 8.

’Enforcement of… ’, which weighs in at over 1,200 pages, is a welcome arrival. The third chapter… which is by far the most important in the book, is both erudite and accessible. This comprehensive discussion of the national provisions is what makes this book so exceptional (and so valuable)…one imagines that the in-house lawyer who works with these provisions in many different countries will find this information very useful. This text is highly recommended to anyone who work regularly with the Border Regulation; and it would be a useful addition to any intellectual property library. – Phillip Johnson, EIPR’

Covering such a complex subject, it is a real achievement to make it so clear and accessible, providing a valuable resource for specialist practitioners, brand owners and law enforcement. Its appeal is broad and many of its contributors are active in the field of anti-counterfeiting in many different territories, so they bring real experience to the task. … Oxford University Press is to be commended for publishing this much-needed new guide to EU law and practice, at a time when governments are focussing on intellectual property protection as never before, in order to progress new policies and – we hope – strengthen our IP régimes. … Understanding how the legal system works is an important step towards that goal, to which this book will make a major contribution. Ruth Orchard, Director-General of The Anti-Counterfeiting Group.