Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 Concerning Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this monograph provides a comprehensive survey and analysis of the rules laid down in Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 Concerning Customs Enforcement Of Intellectual Property Rights and Repealing Regulation 1383/2003. Regulation 608/2013, which entered into force on 1 January 2014 throughout the twenty-eight Member States of the European Union (EU), sets out the conditions and procedures under which customs can take action at the EU’s external borders regarding goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights.

The book provides a factual overview of the problem of counterfeiting and piracy in the EU and beyond, summarizes the international legal framework in the field of customs enforcement of intellectual property rights, sets out the Regulation’s background and raison d’être, examines and critically assesses the Regulation’s provisions at length and their interplay with international trade and intellectual property law, and addresses in detail the sensitive issue of goods in transit in light of the provisions of the EU legislative package on trade marks that was adopted in 2015. The publication also contrasts Regulation 608/2013 with the former regime of customs enforcement of intellectual property rights in the EU.

Particular attention is paid throughout the publication to recent developments and trends. Lawyers representing parties with interests in Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 will welcome this very useful guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of EU law on customs enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Olivier Vrins obtained a degree in law (1998) from the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. He graduated as a Master in European Law at the University of Ghent's European Institute, Belgium (1999) and as a Master in Intellectual Property & Unfair Competition Law at the University of London's Queen Mary & Westfield College, UK (2000). He joined the Brussels Bar in 2000. From then on, he has practised as a lawyer in the Brussels-based law firm ALTIUS, where he is a partner in the Intellectual Property department. Olivier Vrins has extensive knowledge of the system of customs enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the European Union (EU) and has also gained expertise in a broad range of other IPR-related topics, dealing with trade mark, copyright and patent litigation, while specializing also in the field of designations of origin and geographical indications. He is the co-editor of the Oxford University Press bookEnforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Through Border Measures. Law and Practice in the EU(now in its second edition), and has published numerous contributions in IP-related reviews and books. Olivier Vrins has acted as a member of the Sub-Group on Legal Framework set up within the former European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy, which reviewed the implementation status of the EU Enforcement Directive and made recommendations to the European Commission on how to improve IPR enforcement in the EU. He is currently a member of the 'Legal & International' Working Group of the EU Observatory on infringements of Intellectual Property Rights and of the EUIPO's pool of experts on IPR enforcement. He is also a regular speaker at seminars on IPR enforcement and other IPR-related subjects. In 2012, Olivier Vrins was invited to address the European Parliament on the issue of the compatibility of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) with the EUAcquis on IPR enforcement and civil liberties. In 2013, he was awarded the 'Wim Mak' prize by the BMM (Benelux Trade Mark and Design Law Association) for his article Regulation 608/2013: Towards a more effective customs enforcement of intellectual property rights?, published in BMM Bulletin 2013/3--4 (April 2014). He is a member of the BMM Bulletin's editorial board.