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Facts and figures
Every year, the European Commission publishes a report describing the customs detentions of articles suspected of infringing intellectual property rights (IPR), such as trademarks, copyrights and patents. These statistics, compiled on the basis of the data transmitted by the EU Member States in accordance with Article 8 of Commission Regulation (EC) 1891/2004, provide useful information to support the analysis of IPR infringements affecting the EU market and the development of appropriate counter-measures. Reports on EU customs enforcement of intellectual property rights are available from this page for consultation and download.
Please note that only detentions made under the procedures set forth in Council Regulation (CE) 1383/2003, are included in these statistics.
2011
Statistics published on 24 July 2012 by the European Commission show a continuous upward trend in the number of shipments suspected of violating intellectual property rights. In 2011, more than 91,000 detention cases were registered by Customs: an increase of 15% compared to 2010. This increase totally depends on air, express and postal traffic, as a result of the growth of the e-commerce market. As far as the 114 million detained articles are concerned, the value of the equivalent genuine products is estimated to be over 1.2 billion euro.
Medicines are at the top of the list of detained articles (24%), followed by packaging materials and cigarettes. Products for daily use (i.e. body care articles, medicines, toys, electrical household goods) accounted for 28,6% of the total number of detained articles, posing justified concerns over the potential risks for public health and safety. The increased number of cases concerned mainly shoes other than sport shoes, electrical household goods and clothing.
China continued to be the main source country from where IPR infringing goods were shipped to the EU, accounting for 73% of the total amount of detained articles.
Number of registered cases and articles
For further information see the press release (IP/12/823 
), the frequently asked questions (MEMO/12/592 ) and the full report
.
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