EUIPO – European Union Intellectual Property Office | Observatory Civil Society Stakeholder meeting

History

The Observatory was created as part of the Commission’s Internal Market and Services Directorate-General in April 2009 under the name of the European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy. EUIPO, as the EU’s principal agency devoted exclusively to IP matters, began co-operating closely with the Observatory under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2011.

Following a proposal by the Commission, backed by the European Parliament and the Council, the Observatory was fully entrusted to EUIPO, formerly known as OHIM, on 5 June 2012.

The Regulation transferring the Observatory to EUIPO renamed it as the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights. Under this Regulation EUIPO has to finance the Observatory’s activities. The Observatory will draw on EUIPO’s expertise, experience and resources with a view to becoming an information centre par excellence.