Men at work -- or just economists? Time to talk again about IP enforcement in the EU

To many IP lawyers, this is what a roomful
of economists discussing IP sounds like ...

Jean Bergevin, Head of Unit, of the European Commission's Directorate General Internal Market and Services Fight against Counterfeiting and Piracy (MARKT D3), has written specially to the IPKat to tell him of a fascinating and important initiative which should concern all readers of this blog who own, litigate, invest in or infringe IP.  The initiative looks like this:

Workshops on key economic issues regarding the enforcement of IPR in the EU

With Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights and the Commission proposal for a Directive on trade secrets the European Union has set the framework for civil redress against the infringement and misappropriation of intellectual property (IP) within the EU. However, the dynamic evolution of the markets on which ideas, technologies and innovations associated with IP are developed and traded requires careful monitoring.

While the European Commission disposes of procedures and tools for the monitoring of existing EU law and the in-depth analysis of potential problems, it seeks to establish closer links with experts and researchers in the field in order to proactively screen developments in the area of IP and their likely economic impacts.

To this aim, the European Commission is establishing a list of economists, researchers and experts specialised in the economics of IP [this appears to be another exercise in getting economists to speak to ... economists.  Presumably the input of judges, litigators, litigants, investors, consumers and others is either unnecessary or unwanted, though the call for expression of interest, below, is prepared to include "lawyers, having worked extensively on the economic effects of IPR or the economics of IP": in other words, not many of them ...]. On the basis of this list, the Commission will invite experts in the respective area to thematic workshops to discuss issues which are considered relevant for the economic context of IP.

Should you be interested and qualified, please indicate your interest using the link below.

• Call for expression of interest(118 KB) 

Workshops on economic issues

Workshop on the concepts of “commercial scale” and “commercial purpose” in the context of IP infringements – 19.09.2014

The Commission intends to hold the first economic workshop on 19 September to discuss the concepts of “commercial scale” and “commercial purpose” in the context of IP infringements. Potential participants will be selected from the list mentioned above by mid-August in order to provide them sufficient time for their respective arrangements.

• More information on the first economic workshop(114 KB) 

This Kat continues to oscillate between acute anxiety and deep concern that discussions about IP enforcement in the European Union are all too easily broken down into IP owners talking with each other, litigators sharing thoughts with litigators, economists discussing their notions with fellow economists, politicians with politicians and so on. This is why there seem to be so many versions of self-defined consensus. He therefore calls upon anyone who can be described as a "lawyer, having worked extensively on the economic effects of IPR or the economics of IP", if there are such folk, to give up their time on 19 September and pitch in, to add an extra dimension to the first of these Workshops.