New Commission Study Highlights Diverging Application of IPRED Across the EU

The European Commission has released a study evaluating how selected provisions of the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) are applied in practice.

The analysis focuses on five priority areas: the application of the proportionality principle in patent injunction cases; the role and influence of Patent Assertion Entities within the EU; the use of dynamic blocking injunctions for industrial property rights; the interaction between the right to information and data protection requirements; and the costs associated with the storage and destruction of goods that infringe IP rights.

The study reveals significant differences in the implementation and application of IPRED across EU Member States. In particular, national courts often conduct only limited proportionality assessments in patent injunction cases, while practices related to dynamic blocking injunctions and information sharing differ widely. The findings also indicate that high enforcement costs, especially those linked to the storage and destruction of infringing goods, can act as a deterrent for SMEs and smaller rights holders when considering enforcement action.

Follow-up study on the application of the Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights