The European Commission set out a series of practical and non-legislative measures on Monday to enhance the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the European Union (EU).

"There are always those who will seek to undermine honest intentions. We need to stop this dangerous trend not by more legislation, but by mobilizing stronger collaboration helping us to fight back," said EU Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy.

Complementing legislation, the actions proposed by the commission aim to support enforcement through a new EU observatory on counterfeiting and piracy which will bring together national representatives, private sector experts and consumers to work to collect data on and analyze the scope and scale of the problem.

They will also foster administrative cooperation across Europe by developing coordination to ensure that more effective exchanges of information and mutual assistance can take place.

Stakeholders will be invited to build coalitions to overcome conflicts and disputes by developing collaborative voluntary arrangements that focus on concrete problems.

"Such agreements can also be more easily extended beyond the EU and become the foundation for best practice at global level," the commission said.

The EU treated intellectual property rights as a cornerstone of a creative, competitive, wealth-generating, knowledge-based society, but counterfeiting and piracy undermine this position.

"The EU is home to some of most successful businesses in the world who consider intellectual property rights to be amongst their most precious commercial possessions," McCreevy said. 
                                                                                                        Source: Xinhua