By Anna McLauchlin - 9th March 2004
MEPs have backed an EU proposal to stamp out fake goods from traditional perfume and clothes to pirated DVDs and CDs and even drugs such as Viagra.
Under legislation approved by the European Parliament on Tuesday, national governments will have to adopt deterrent measures against commercial counterfeiters.
Measures include the seizure of suspicious bank accounts, whilst respecting laws on data protection, and forcing offenders to pay damages to victims of piracy.
Member states will also have to ban any machinery used to forge security devices which make consumers think goods are authentic, allow trade associations to launch lawsuits against pirates and withdraw fake products from the market at the offender's expense.
But the directive does not force governments to launch criminal proceedings over infringement of intellectual property rights as originally drafted by the European Commission, limiting the scope to administrative and civil action alone.
It is also solely aimed at combating commercial activity, meaning that private individuals who download music or films for their personal use will not be targeted.
The law should now be approved without amendment at the next meeting of EU governments, as national capitals and MEPs worked together on the draft to produce a satisfactory compromise.
And it is therefore scheduled to be formally adopted before the next European Parliament elections in June.
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