Trade Mark Package Voted In EU Parliament – Changes Affecting Goods In Transit

The European Parliament (the "Parliament") voted on 25 February 2014 on the trade mark package. The trade mark package was first proposed by the European Commission on 27 March 2013 (See, VBB on Belgian Business Law, Volume 2013, No. 3, p. 12 and 13, available at www.vbb.com).

The text voted by the European Parliament contains a number of important changes to the text that was agreed on by the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament on 17 December 2013 (See, VBB on Belgian Business Law, Volume 2014, No. 1, p. 7 and 8, available at www.vbb.com). The changes relate, inter alia, to the situation of goods in transit. The new provisions adopted by the European Parliament depart from the current system where Customs may only stop counterfeiting goods transiting through the European Union ("EU") if there is a risk that these goods enter the European market.