15% increase in the number of fake products seized at EU borders in 2011

According to the European Commission’s annual report on customs actions to enforce intellectual property rights (IPR), released on 24^th July, 2012, over 115 million fake products (dealing with more than 91,000 cases) were seized by the Customs officials stationed along the European Union’s external borders in 2011, which was estimated to be 15% more than articles seized in 2010 (dealing with about 80,000 cases, seizing about 103 million articles).

China was at the top of the list of source countries for counterfeit goods last year. Also several EU member states have come into picture as countries of origin for different categories of fake products.

Given the increase in the quality and diversity of counterfeit products, the European Commission has recognised the industry’s important role in tipping off officials about IPR infringements.

Find full Report here 

42,000 patent applications filed in 2011

According to an official statement from the Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, 42,000 patent applications were filed in 2011. Such a huge number of patent applications indicates rising trend of patent filings.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma inaugurated the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Intellectual Property Management (NIIPM) building at Nagpur, emphasising upon the recognition by the country of need for creating a pool of trained professionals to evaluate and assess the applications.

The Ministry also has plans to establish the India Intellectual Property Foundation at NIIPM, with collaboration of CII and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

In the wake of increasing workload of patent application, Indian Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has recently recruited 257 examiners of patents and designs, who will undergo a comprehensive one-year training at NIIPM.

source