France: Law No. 2014-315 of March 11, 2014, strengthening the Fight Against Counterfeiting

March 13, 2014

France: The Law No. 2014-315 of March 11, 2014, strengthening the Fight Against Counterfeiting, which was published in the Official Gazette on March 12, 2014, and entered into force on March 13, 2014, is intended to complete, reinforce and clarify the French anti-counterfeiting legislation including the Postal and Electronic Communications Code, the Internal Security Code, the Customs Code, the Law No. 2007-1544 of October 29, 2007, relating to the Fight Against Counterfeiting and the Intellectual Property Code.

Among others, the Law introduces substantial changes to the Intellectual Property Code, which include the following: improvement of the assessment of damages awarded to IP rights owners in infringement proceedings by requiring the judge a clear distinction between the different levels of harm; extension of limitation period to 5 years for all IP rights infringement claims; simplification of the right of information procedure where a request for information can be raised before any judgement on the merits for counterfeiting, including before the judge in charge of interim proceedings, without the need for an exhaustive list of information and documents; harmonization of infringement seizure procedures applicable to all IP rights; and reinforcement of customs' actions to all IP rights in compliance with EU Regulation No. 608/2013 of June 12, 2013, concerning customs enforcement of intellectual property rights.