In June 2014 the Spanish Home Office published two reports concerning police interventions relating to the infringement of IP rights in 2013.
Both reports refer only to interventions by the National Police and complemented by interventions carried out by some local police forces. In Spain, other police forces also pursue this type of crime, such as the regional police, but these were not included in the reports. Further, in Spain, copyright differs from trademarks, patents, models and designs, which are called industrial property.
The reports on the interventions regarding copyright shows that there were 240,589 seized objects and 700 interventions in 2013, in line with the figures from 2012.
However, the report shows a significant increase in interventions related to industrial property rights in 2013:
- 2,434 punishable acts were detected, an increase of more than 25% compared to 2012;
- 2,155 people were arrested or accused of these crimes, an increase of more than 22% on the previous year; and
- 5,049,879 items were seized, which constituted an increase on the previous year.
The sectors that were the most affected by the infringement of industrial property rights in 2013 were:
- the toy industry, with 20% of the seizures;
- the leather goods sector, with 17%;
- the textile sector, with 11%;
- the jewellery and watch sector, with 5%;
- the electronics sector, with 4%; and
- the perfumery sector, with 1%.
Significantly, the most common points of seizure of infringing goods were:
- industrial units (factories or warehouses), which accounted for 62% of the seizures;
- commercial establishments open to the public, which accounted for 13% of the seizures; and
- customs areas (ports and airports), which accounted for 9% of the total seizures.
For further information on this topic please contact Dalia Ferrando at Grau & Angulo by telephone (+34 93 202 34 56), fax(+34 93 240 53 83) or email ([email protected]). The Grau & Angulo website can be accessed at www.gba-ip.com.
