The European Commission has launched on 12 January a public consultation to prompt the views of other European institutions, the Member States and private stakeholders on the findings reflected in the report on the application of the Directive and the technical paper attached to it. Interested parties can submit their opinions by 31 March 2011.

The Consultation in particular is aimed at verifying the information provided in the Commission Report on the enforcement of intellectual property rights and at identifying additional issues that should be addressed in the context of a possible review of the Directive.

In its first Report on the application of Intellectual Property Rights Directive, the European Commission concluded in general terms that the Directive has had a substantial and positive effect on protecting intellectual property rights under civil law in Europe, creating a straightforward framework for enforcing intellectual property rights. However, the Commission also pointed out that due to late transposition of the Directive in many Member States which was not completed until 2009, experience in applying the Directive is limited and only few court cases have been reported. 

Any citizen, organization or public authority can make its contribution to the public Consultation on the Commission Report on the enforcement of intellectual property rights, whose results and contributions will be published on the Internet.