Brussels, 09/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - The latest biennial report from the European Commission on the protection and respect of intellectual property rights (IPR) in third countries was published on Wednesday 8 July and highlights significant shortfalls on this matter in China and India. In addition to these two countries, Argentina, Russia and Ecuador have also been placed on a “priority country” list to be monitored.
Despite positive developments and comprehensive legal reforms, enforcement initiatives and the creation of specialised IP courts in China, two thirds of goods detained at EU borders due to suspected IPR-infringement originated in this Asian giant. China therefore retains its status as a priority country - even if the EU has developed close cooperation with China on IP matters and a memorandum of understanding was recently signed to strengthen this cooperation, the Commission states.
India also remains a big source of concern for the Commission - in particular, for its lack of effective patent protection. The report also highlights a general worsening of IPR protection in Argentina, Russia and Ecuador compared to the previous report in 2013. The Commission has therefore placed all these countries on its list of priority countries.
By contrast, the report identifies notable improvements in Israel - where the protection of pharmaceutical products has improved, and in the Philippines - where significant measures have been taken to improve IPR protection in legislation and enforcement. (Emmanuel Hagry)