One of the main activities carried out by the Observatory focuses on the creation and expansion of knowledge, the exchange of best practices and greater cooperation on intellectual property enforcement among the wider enforcement community.
The Observatory’s knowledge-building activities have served to train and increase the knowledge and cooperation of thousands of judges and prosecutors, as well as public sector enforcers working within police, customs, market surveillance and other active IP enforcement authorities.
These activities enable them to share their experience and best practices and create opportunities for networking across borders.

Through the Observatory, the EUIPO carries out different types of knowledge-building activities aimed at different actors in the enforcement community:
Pre-operational preparation:
Operations and investigations related to counterfeit goods require a profound knowledge of routes, markets, specificities and the markings used on original products. Together with rights holders, the EUIPO is putting this knowledge at the disposal of enforcers to pave the way for successful operations and investigations.
Experts from Europol, OLAF, DG TAXUD, Eurojust and from the judiciary of the EU Member States provide expertise at these events for enforcers. Best practices and concrete examples are provided by IP rights holders to illustrate how investigations in the sector could be made even more effective.
Regional seminars
The regional seminars are aimed at building knowledge among law enforcement practitioners, such as the police, customs prosecutors and market surveillance authorities with the pertinent competences in the area of intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements. These seminars are organised in different geographic regions for EU Member States and neighbouring countries and also provide the opportunity to enhance regional and cross-border cooperation.
EUIPO-CEPOL training on IP crime
The EUIPO, together with CEPOL, organises a joint annual seminar on infringements of intellectual property rights.
The IP Crime week combines elements of training for the law enforcement authorities of the 27 Member States on the different rights involved on IP crime .
The training week provides information on the latest trends in IPR enforcement and also enables participants and speakers to share best practices in the fight against IPR crime.
Judges’ Seminars:
The Judges’ seminars, which have been organised since 2008, have already established a body of practice among EU judges and prosecutors who regularly deal with intellectual property and enforcement issues. The network comprises over 800 judges and prosecutors from all the EU Member States and beyond, including all types and levels of jurisdiction: civil, commercial, administrative and criminal. Attendance at the seminar is by invitation, and in order to encourage a free exchange of views, the discussions are not held publicly.
The participants of the EUIPO Judges’ Network regularly communicate with each other between seminars and relay judgments and other information on their national practices back to the EUIPO, thereby continuing and enriching the practice.
The European Intellectual Property Prosecutors Network (EIPPN)
In 2015, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (EUROJUST) and the EUIPO launched a cooperation between prosecutors from the EU and other European countries, working on IP crime cases. The network collects and shares experiences and cases and discusses new trends, challenges with emerging technologies, international judicial cooperation measures and other issues of importance when dealing with IP crime. The network has also reached out to prosecutors from some countries outside Europe to enhance cooperation and the sharing of best practices.
The above knowledge-building events are complemented with an online offer on the Virtual Training Centre.
IP enforcement events
The Observatory is also involved in high-level events to ensure policymakers, communicators and decision takers are fully aware of relevant issues surrounding IP. Events are organised by the Observatory and by the Observatory’s stakeholders.
Event | Date | Report | Other documents |
---|---|---|---|
Knowledge and Awareness Building Seminar, International Cooperation and the Role of Intermediaries | 14 - 16 March 2017 | ||
Knowledge Building Conference, Counterfeiting of Toys and Videogames | 09 - 11 November 2016 | ||
Knowledge and Awareness Building Conference, Counterfeiting of foodstuff, beverages and agricultural products | 16 - 18 March 2016 | ||
Knowledge building conference on infringements of designs protected by design law and copyright | 18 - 20 November 2015 | ||
Knowledge building conference on counterfeiting of cosmetics, perfumes and luxury goods | 03 - 05 June 2015 | ||
Knowledge building conference on infringements of intellectual property rights on the internet | 05 - 07 November 2014 | ||
Knowledge building conference on Intellectual Property Crimes in Sports | 26 - 28 March 2014 | Show | |
Knowledge building conference on counterfeit household goods and automotive parts | 04 - 06 November 2013 | Show | |
Knowledge building conference on counterfeit medicines | 26 - 28 June 2013 | ||
Knowledge building conference on counterfeit pesticides | 26 - 28 September 2012 |
Event | Date | Report |
---|---|---|
Judges’ Seminar | 19 - 20 September 2017 | |
Civil versus Criminal IPR Litigation | 11 - 17 May 2017 | |
Judges' seminar Fake labels | 07 - 08 November 2016 | |
IPR Judges' seminar Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime in the IPR Field | 03 - 04 May 2016 | |
EUIPO Judges' Seminars on Indemnification | 2008 - 2016 | |
Ninth Judges´ Symposium | 04 - 05 November 2015 | |
Limitation of Statute and Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime | 05 - 06 May 2015 | |
The Sale of Fakes through the Internet | 24 - 25 March 2015 |
Event | Date | More informationn |
---|---|---|
International Forum on IP Enforcement, Paris | 12 - 13 June 2019 | Show |
International IP Enforcement Summit, Berlin | 22 - 23 June 2017 | Show |
International IP Enforcement Summit, London | 11 - 12 June 2014 | Show |
Event | Date | Report |
---|---|---|
Regional Seminar on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights, Slovakia | 09 - 11 October 2018 | |
Regional Seminar on Enforcemenet on IP Rights, Limassol | 04 - 06 April 2017 | |
Regional Seminar on Enforcement of IPR, UK | 22 - 24 November 2016 | |
Regional Seminar on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights, Lisbon | 24 - 26 May 2016 | |
Regional Seminar, Budapest | 11 - 13 November 2015 | |
Southern European Regional Seminar, Italy | 12 - 14 May 2015 | |
Regional Seminar for Baltic Countries, Denmark | 06 - 08 October 2015 | |
Regional Seminar, Romania | 13 - 15 May 2014 | |
Nordic Enforcement Workshop, Denmark | 18 - 20 November 2013 |
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