16/03/2021 (Agence Europe) – The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) announced on Monday 15 March that they are strengthening collaboration in order to fight intellectual property crime more effectively, particularly counterfeiting and online piracy. A Service Level Agreement (SLA) has been signed to strengthen Eurojust’s capacity and resources in this area, with additional funding of €750,000 for Eurojust up to the end of 2024. This agreement will also strengthen the European Intellectual Property Prosecutors Network (EIPPN). The two organisations say that this is an important step, at a time when the pandemic has created a boom in counterfeiting, particularly of protective equipment and masks. (PH)