IP and Criminal Sanctions—The EU

Abstract This chapter addresses how IP enforcement at the EU level is organized. Criminal enforcement of intellectual property (IP) infringements at the European Union (EU) level is not straightforward. When it comes to civil and criminal enforcement for IP infringements as well as border measures, we face different levels of harmonization: the EU customs regulation offers full harmonization for measures taken at the border; the EU civil enforcement directive harmonizes civil enforcement measures and procedures provided by EU Member States. For criminal enforcement of IP infringements, there is no harmonizing legislative instrument at this point. The analysis discusses these different levels of harmonization. At the EU level, civil, border, and criminal enforcement represent different approaches and offer different tools to protect intellectual property rights (IPRs). Civil enforcement generally aims to provide fast and straightforward solutions for rightsholders, often through injunctions, damages, and seizures. Border measures enable customs authorities to detain, seize, or, under certain circumstances, destroy suspected IP-infringing goods. Criminal enforcement, on the other hand, focuses on serious and organized offences, aiming to deter future infringements that not only violate IPRs but also endanger public order through their links to organized crime. In view of the fact that the EU market experiences a threat through organized IP crime, national criminal measures alone do not seem to be sufficient to address those professional networks. We argue that in the absence of harmonization, cooperation networks are key to countering IP crimes in the EU.