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News article1 March 2022European Anti-Fraud Office

OLAF and EUIPO sign new working agreement

Man signing official document

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have agreed new working arrangements aimed at increasing cooperation in combatting Intellectual Property (IP) crimes.

The Service Level Agreement, effective as of today, will see the development of an IT tool, which will make it easier to share and analyse data related to counterfeiting cases at EU level. The agreement will also develop joint training opportunities and information sessions in support of operational activities organised by OLAF, with the participation of Member States.

Welcoming the move, OLAF Director-General Ville Itälä said: “Stopping counterfeit goods from flooding EU markets is one of OLAF’s top priorities and today’s agreement allows us, the EUIPO and Member State authorities to be more effective in doing that. Make no mistake, counterfeiting defrauds consumers, harms legitimate businesses, causes huge losses to public revenues as well as endangers citizens’ health and safety. The only ones who benefit from counterfeiting practices are gangs and criminals. That is why it is important that we work with our partners such as EUIPO to prevent it.”

The EUIPO Executive Director Christian Archambeau said: “This agreement will mean greater cooperation between the EUIPO and OLAF thus enhancing our effectiveness in tackling IP crimes such as counterfeiting. The EU Council of Ministers has made tackling IP crime one of their priorities in the wider fight against organised crime. Today’s agreement will aid in that fight and I look forward to seeing the real and positive outcomes that it will bring.” 

Details

Publication date
1 March 2022
Author
European Anti-Fraud Office
News type
OLAF news article