CONTENTS:

> General provisions
> Standards of protection
> Copyright
> Related rights
> Trademarks
> Geographical indications
> Industrial designs
> Patents
> Integrated circuits
> Undisclosed information
> Anti-competitive licences

> Enforcement
> General obligations
> Procedures and remedies
> Provisional measures
> Border measures
> Criminal procedures

> Other provisions
> Acquiring and maintaining rights
 > Transitional arrangements
> Protecting existing matter

The provisions on enforcement are contained in Part III of the Agreement, which is divided into five Sections. The first Section lays down general obligations that all enforcement procedures must meet. These are notably aimed at ensuring their effectiveness and that certain basic principles of due process are met. The following Sections deal with civil and administrative procedures and remedies, provisional measures, special requirements related to border measures and criminal procedures. These provisions have two basic objectives: one is to ensure that effective means of enforcement are available to right holders; the second is to ensure that enforcement procedures are applied in such a manner as to avoid the creation of barriers to legitimate trade and to provide for safeguards against their abuse.

The Agreement makes a distinction between infringing activity in general, in respect of which civil judicial procedures and remedies must be available, and counterfeiting and piracy -- the more blatant and egregious forms of infringing activity -- in respect of which additional procedures and remedies must also be provided, namely border measures and criminal procedures. For this purpose, counterfeit goods are in essence defined as goods involving slavish copying of trademarks, and pirated goods as goods which violate a reproduction right under copyright or a related right.

General obligations   Back to top

The general obligations relating to enforcement are contained in Article 41. Paragraph 1 requires that enforcement procedures must be such as to permit effective action against any act of infringement of intellectual property rights, and that the remedies available must be expeditious in order to prevent infringements and they must constitute a deterrent to further infringements. On the other hand, these procedures must be applied in such a manner as to avoid the creation of barriers to legitimate trade and to provide for safeguards against their abuse.

The following three paragraphs contain certain general principles, the aim of which is to guarantee due process. Paragraph 2 deals with enforcement procedures. Such procedures must be fair and equitable, and they may not be unnecessarily complicated or costly, or entail unreasonable time-limits or unwarranted delays. Paragraph 3 concerns decisions on the merits of a case. Such decisions shall preferably be in writing and reasoned, and they shall be made available at least to the parties to the proceeding without undue delay. Decisions on the merits of a case shall be based only on evidence in respect of which parties were offered the opportunity to be heard. Paragraph 4 requires that parties to a proceeding shall have an opportunity for review by a judicial authority of final administrative decisions and, subject to jurisdictional provisions in a Member's law concerning the importance of a case, of at least the legal aspects of initial judicial decisions on the merits of a case. However, there is no obligation to provide an opportunity for review of acquittals in criminal cases.

According to paragraph 5, it is understood that the provisions on enforcement do not create any obligation to put in place a judicial system for the enforcement of intellectual property rights distinct from that for the enforcement of law in general, nor does it affect the capacity of Members to enforce their law in general. In addition, it is stated that nothing in these provisions creates any obligation with respect to the distribution of resources as between enforcement of intellectual property rights and the enforcement of law in general. However, a number of countries have found it helpful to establish special enforcement units that pool together required experience needed to effectively fight against counterfeiting and piracy. Moreover, some countries have centralized certain types of intellectual property issues in one or a limited number of courts in order to ensure the availability of necessary expertise.

Civil and administrative procedures and remedies   Back to top

The second Section requires that civil judicial procedures must be available in respect of any activity infringing intellectual property rights covered by the Agreement. The provisions of the Section elaborate in more detail basic features that such procedures must provide for.

Article 42 contains certain principles aiming at ensuring due process. Defendants are entitled to written notice which is timely and contains sufficient details of the claims. Parties must be allowed to be represented by independent legal counsel, and procedures may not impose overly burdensome requirements concerning mandatory personal appearances. All parties are entitled to substantiate their claims and to present all relevant evidence, while confidential information must be identified and protected.

Article 43 deals with how the rules on evidence should be applied in certain situations. In a situation where evidence that is likely to be important for one party is in the possession of the opposing party, the court must be empowered, provided that certain conditions are met, to order the latter party to produce that evidence. In addition, courts may be authorized to make their decisions on the basis of information presented to them, if a party refuses without good reason access to evidence that is in his or her possession, subject to providing the parties an opportunity to be heard.

The Section contains provisions on injunctions, damages and other remedies. Article 44 requires that the courts be empowered to order injunctions, i.e. to order a party to desist from infringements, including the possibility to prevent imported infringing goods from entering into domestic distribution channels. Members are not obliged to provide that authority where a person has acted in good faith. Article 45 provides that the courts must be empowered to order an infringer, at least if he or she acted in bad faith, to pay the right holder adequate damages. They must also be authorized to order the infringer to pay the right holder's expenses. These expenses may include appropriate attorney's fees. In appropriate cases, the courts may be authorized to order recovery of profits and/or payment of pre-established damages even where the infringer acted in good faith.

In order to create an effective deterrent to infringement, Article 46 requires that the judicial authorities must have the authority to order infringing goods to be disposed of outside the channels of commerce, or, where constitutionally possible, destroyed. Similarly, it must be possible to dispose of materials and instruments predominantly used in the production of the infringing goods. In considering such requests, the courts must take into account proportionality between the seriousness of the infringement and the remedies ordered as well as the interests of third parties. In respect of counterfeit trademark goods, it is clarified that the simple removal of the trademark unlawfully affixed shall not be sufficient, other than in exceptional cases, to permit release of the goods into the channels of commerce.

The judicial authorities may be authorized to order the infringer to inform the right holder of the identity of third persons involved in the production and distribution of the infringing goods or services and of their channels of distribution (Article 47). This option is aimed at assisting the right holders to find the source of infringing goods and to take appropriate action against other persons in the distribution channels. This provision must be applied in a way that is in proportion to the seriousness of the infringement.

The Section contains certain safeguards against abuse of enforcement procedures. Article 48 provides that the judicial authorities must have the authority to order the applicant who has abused enforcement procedures to pay an adequate compensation to the defendant who has been wrongfully enjoined or restrained to cover both the injury suffered and expenses. Such expenses may include appropriate attorney's fees. Public authorities and officials are exempted from liability to appropriate remedial measures only where actions are taken or intended in good faith in the course of the administration of that law.

Article 49 provides that, to the extent that any civil remedy can be ordered as a result of administrative procedures on the merits of a case, such procedures shall conform to principles equivalent in substance to those set forth in the Section.

Provisional measures   Back to top

Article 41 requires that enforcement procedures must permit effective action against infringements and must include expeditious remedies. As these judicial procedures may take a fair amount of time, it is necessary for the judicial authorities to be empowered to provide provisional relief for the right holder in order to stop an alleged infringement immediately. The provisions on provisional measures are contained in Article 50. It requires each country to ensure that its judicial authorities have the authority to order prompt and effective provisional measures. Such measures must be available in respect of any intellectual property right. Provisional measures have to be available in two situations. One is where they are needed to prevent an infringement from occurring, and to prevent infringing goods from entering into the channels of commerce. This includes preventing imported infringing goods from being dispersed into domestic distribution channels immediately after customs clearance. The other situation is where such measures are needed to preserve relevant evidence in regard to the alleged infringement.

Effective use of provisional measures may require that action be taken without giving prior notice to the other side. Therefore, the judicial authorities must have the authority to adopt provisional measures inaudita altera parte, i.e. without prior hearing of the other side, where appropriate, in particular where any delay is likely to cause irreparable harm to the right holder, or where there is a demonstrable risk of evidence being destroyed (paragraph 2).

The courts may require the applicant to provide any reasonably available adequate evidence that the applicant is the right holder and that the applicant's right is being infringed or that such infringement is imminent (paragraph 3). The applicant may also be required to supply information necessary for the identification of the goods (paragraph 5). Where provisional measures have been adopted inaudita altera parte, the parties affected must be given notice, without delay after the execution of the measures at the latest. The defendant has a right to review with a view to deciding, within a reasonable period after the notification of the measures, whether these measures shall be modified, revoked or confirmed (paragraph 4).

The provisions on provisional measures contain certain safeguards against abuse of such measures. The judicial authority may require the applicant to provide a security or equivalent assurance sufficient to protect the defendant and to prevent abuse (paragraph 3). Provisional measures shall, upon request by the defendant, be revoked or otherwise cease to have effect, if the applicant fails to initiate proceedings leading to a decision on the merits of the case within a reasonable period to be determined by the judicial authority ordering the measures. In the absence of such a determination, this period may not exceed 20 working days or 31 calendar days, whichever is the longer (paragraph 6). Where the provisional measures are revoked or where they lapse due to any act or omission by the applicant, or where it is subsequently found that there has been no infringement or threat of infringement of an intellectual property right, the judicial authorities shall have the authority to order the applicant to provide the defendant appropriate compensation for any injury caused by these measures (paragraph 7).

The above principles apply also to administrative procedures to the extent that any provisional measure can be ordered as a result of such procedures (paragraph 8).

Special requirements related to border measures   Back to top

The emphasis in the enforcement part of the TRIPS Agreement is on internal enforcement mechanisms, which, if effective, would enable infringing activity to be stopped at source, the point of production. Where possible, this is both a more efficient way of enforcing IPRs and less liable to give rise to risks of discrimination against imports than special border measures. However, the Agreement recognizes that such enforcement at source will not always be possible and that in any event not all countries are Members of the TRIPS Agreement. The Agreement therefore also recognizes the importance of border enforcement procedures that will enable right holders to obtain the cooperation of customs administrations so as to prevent the release of infringing imports into free circulation. The special requirements related to border measures are contained in Section 4 of the enforcement part of the Agreement.

According to Article 51 of the Agreement, the goods which must be subject to border enforcement procedures must include at least counterfeit trademark and pirated copyright goods that are being presented for importation (see footnote 14 to that Article for the precise definition of these terms). The Article leaves flexibility to Member governments on whether to include imports of goods which involve other infringements of IPRs. Members are also free to determine whether to apply these procedures to parallel imports. This is confirmed in footnote 13 to the Article, according to which it is understood that there shall be no obligation to apply such procedures to imports of goods put on the market in another country by or with the consent of the right holder. In accordance with Article 60, Members may exclude from the application of these procedures de minimis imports, i.e. small quantities of goods of a non-commercial nature contained in travellers' personal luggage or sent in small consignments. Article 51 leaves it to Members to decide whether to apply corresponding procedures to the suspension by customs authorities of infringing goods destined for exportation from their territories, or to goods in transit.

The basic mechanism required by the Agreement is that each Member must designate a “competent authority”, which could be administrative or judicial in nature, to which applications by right holders for customs action shall be lodged (Article 51). The right holder lodging an application to the competent authority shall be required to provide adequate evidence of a prima facie infringement of his IPR and to supply a sufficiently detailed description of the goods to make them readily recognizable by the customs authorities. The competent authorities shall then inform the applicant whether the application has been accepted and, if so, for what period, and give the necessary directions to customs officers (Article 52). After this, it is the responsibility of the applicant to initiate proceedings leading to a decision on the merits of the case. The Agreement requires a system to be put in place under which action will be taken on the basis of an application from a right holder, but leaves it to Members to determine whether they require competent authorities to act upon their own initiative. Article 58 contains certain additional provisions applicable to such ex officio action.

The provisions on border measures require the taking of what are essentially provisional measures against imports of infringing goods. Many of the same types of safeguards against abuse as appear in Article 50 on provisional judicial measures are provided for. The competent authority may require the applicant to provide a security or equivalent assurance sufficient to protect the defendant and the competent authorities and to prevent abuse. However, such security or equivalent assurance may not be such as to unreasonably deter recourse to these procedures (Article 53.1). The importer and the applicant must be promptly notified of the detention of goods (Article 54). If the right holder fails to initiate proceedings leading to a decision on the merits of a case within ten working days, the goods shall normally be released (Article 55). Where goods involve the alleged infringement of industrial designs, patents, layout-designs or undisclosed information, the importer must be entitled to obtain their release on the posting of a security sufficient to protect the right holder from any infringement, even if proceedings leading to a decision on the merits have been initiated (Article 53.2). Once judicial proceedings on the merits of a case have been initiated, the judicial authority may continue the suspension of the release of goods in accordance with a provisional judicial measure. In that case, the provisions on provisional measures in Article 50 shall be applied. The applicant may be required to pay appropriate compensation to persons whose interests have been adversely affected by the wrongful detention of goods or through detention of goods released pursuant to the failure of the applicant to initiate in time proceedings leading to a decision on the merits of the case (Article 56).

The competent authorities must be able to give the right holder sufficient opportunity to have any goods detained by the customs authorities inspected in order to substantiate his or her claims. Where goods have been found infringing as a result of a decision on the merits, the Agreement leaves it to Members whether to enable the right holder to be informed of other persons in the distribution channel so that appropriate action could also be taken against them (Article 57).

In regard to remedies, the competent authorities must have the power to order the destruction or disposal outside the channels of commerce of infringing goods in such a manner as to avoid any harm to the right holder. The principles contained in Article 46 on civil remedies, such as the need for proportionality, apply also to border measures. In regard to counterfeit trademark goods, the authorities may not allow the re-exportation of the infringing goods in an unaltered state or subject them to a different customs procedure, other than in exceptional circumstances. These remedies are without prejudice to other rights of action open to the right holder, such as to obtain damages through civil litigation, and are also subject to the right of the defendant to seek review by a judicial authority (Article 59).

Criminal procedures   Back to top

The fifth and final section in the enforcement chapter of the TRIPS Agreement deals with criminal procedures. According to Article 61, provision must be made for these to be applied at least in cases of wilful trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on a commercial scale. The Agreement leaves it to Members to decide whether to provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied in other cases of infringement of intellectual property rights, in particular where they are committed wilfully and on a commercial scale.

Sanctions must include imprisonment and/or monetary fines sufficient to provide a deterrent, consistent with the level of penalties applied for crimes of a corresponding gravity. Criminal remedies in appropriate cases must also include seizure, forfeiture and destruction of the infringing goods and of materials and instruments used to produce them.