Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Estonia

Abstract

NATIONAL LAW IMPLEMENTING THE ENFORCEMENT DIRECTIVE A. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY LAW In Estonia, the Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights (the “Enforcement Directive”) has been transposed by primary legislation. The main part of the Enforcement Directive was implemented by the new Code of Civil Procedure that entered in force as of 1 January 2006, whereas amendments were made in the Law of Obligations Act (provides general rules of compensation of damage), Copyright Act, Patents Act and Trade Marks Act. B. TRANSPOSITION ISSUES The transposition of the Enforcement Directive in Estonia was rather smooth because most of the Enforcement Directive's provisions could be incorporated into the new Code of Civil Procedure that was under preparation organically. Although introducing the measures as part of a larger reform may have reduced the judiciary's and the stakeholders’ attention to the specific area of enforcement of intellectual property rights at fi rst, awareness has grown fast. Tort law was not substantially changed, but some amendments were made to fully implement the Enforcement Directive. Estonia has implemented all of the mandatory provisions of the Enforcement Directive and has opted to provide for alternative measures as described in the Enforcement Directive Article 12. As for the right of information laid down in Article 8(1) of the Enforcement Directive, Estonian legislation is more favourable to the intellectual property right owner as it allows obtaining information even from persons not acting “on a commercial scale”. C. ASSESSMENT REPORTS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION According to Article 18(1) of the Enforcement Directive, Estonia submitted an assessment report on the implementation of the Enforcement Directive to the European Commission in September 2009. The report contained an overview of the available (approximate) statistical data about the enforcement of intellectual property rights in Estonian courts in 2005–2008 and a corresponding evaluation of the Enforcement Directive's effect. It was pointed out in the report that the securing of actions and measures for preserving evidence have been applied more since the implementation of the Enforcement Directive.