Directive on the enforcement of intellectual property rights
| European Union directive | |
| Title | Directive on the enforcement of intellectual property rights |
|---|---|
| Made by | European Parliament & Council |
| Made under | Art. 95 |
| Journal reference | L157, 2004-04-30, pp. 32 – 36 L195, 2004-06-02, pp. 16 – 25 |
| History | |
| Date made | 2004-04-29 |
| Came into force | 2004-05-20 |
| Implementation date | 2006-04-29 |
| Preparative texts | |
| EESC opinion | C32, 2004-02-05, p. 15 |
| Reports | |
| Other legislation | |
| Replaces | — |
| Amends | — |
| Amended by | — |
| Replaced by | — |
| Current legislation | |
Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights (also known as "(IPR) Enforcement Directive" or "IPRED") is a European Union directive in the field of intellectual property law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. The directive covers civil remedies only—not criminal ones.
Under Article 3(1), Members States can be censured in the European Court of Justice if their civil procedures on the infringement of intellectual property rights are "unnecessarily complicated or costly, or entail unreasonable time-limits or unwarranted delays". Otherwise the Directive harmonises the rules on standing, evidence, interlocutory measures, seizure and injunctions, damages and costs and judicial publication.
The Directive requires all Member States to apply effective, dissuasive and proportionate remedies and penalties against those engaged in counterfeiting and piracy. Thus, the purpose of the instrument is to regulate enforcement of intellectual property rights, not the rights themselves. The Directive leaves unaffected the substantive provisions on intellectual property, international obligations of the Member States and national provisions relating to criminal procedure and criminal enforcement. In short, the Directive adds extra measures on enforcement of digital copyright while leaving national law in other areas unaffected.
The subject-matter of the Directive is defined in Article 1. It applies to enforcement of intellectual property rights which include industrial property rights. The scope of the Directive is defined in Article 2. It applies to all infringements of IP rights in Community and national law, without precluding more stringent protection that the Community or national law may otherwise grant.
The general obligation in the Directive is to provide for remedies necessary to enforce intellectual property rights. These shall be "fair and equitable" and must not be “complicated or costly, or entail unreasonable time-limits or unwarranted delays”. They must furthermore be effective, proportionate and dissuasive and must not act as barriers to trade.
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