If You Thought That Dawn Raids Were to do with Antitrust … a Critique of the Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights

Abstract

This paper presents a thorough appraisal of the new Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights, which will become law in all 25 EU member states within two years, and reviews its effect on legitimate generic product development. The paper commences with an examination of the mixed motives behind the Directive. It contrasts the European Commission's desire to eradicate counterfeiting and piracy, with its sponsor's purpose of creating tough sanctions against any intellectual property rights infringement. Claimed as a tool to wrest research and development (R&D) initiative from the USA, the Directive has potential for being a tool of protectionism within the EU. This paper then goes on to discuss the stifling effect on generics competition. It describes the extensive range of civil measures culled from any member state and presented as a single menu available in all. This is applicable both to counterfeiting and piracy, and to complex patent disputes. The Directive's encouragement of criminal sanctions completes the picture.