Civil Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights: Public Consultation on the Efficiency of Proceedings and Accessibility of Measures. CEIPI's Comments on the Public Consultation, with a Focus on Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms

Abstract

As a part of a consultation with stakeholders in order to evaluate the overall functioning of the civil enforcement mechanism for intellectual property rights, the European Commission has opened a survey on “the efficiency of proceedings and accessibility of measures” to gather specific information about the enforcement of intellectual property rights through contracts, litigation, or other means. The Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) submits a certain number of observations to the European legislature from the perspective of ADR (alternative dispute resolution). Although ADR has been recognized as an important means of dispute resolution and much effort - primarily on the national level - has been made, its use in the field of intellectual property rights remains modest. The CEIPI provides an analysis on the current state of affairs and advances proposals on how best the European Commission could make use of ADR in order to achieve effective enforcement of intellectual property rights.