White List Team – Anticounterfeiting

The White List Team™ (“WLT”™) is a working group of international lawyers focused on plant breeder’s rights (“PBRs”) enforcement in the European Union (“EU”) and around the world. The White List Team™ concept was invented by the U.S. attorney Patrick Ballew and the Chilean attorney Gabriela Paiva, both IP and PBR experts. WebLegal manages the WLT in the EU, where effective strategies for combating counterfeiting has been coordinated since 2011.

Along with the WLT, WebLegal was one of the first lawfirms to enable a customs protection for the PBRs (particularly for fruit varieties) pursuant to EC Regulation n.1383/03, and later EC Regulation n. 608/13. The proven and varied technical and legal know-how achieved by WebLegal and the WLT is constantly updated and improved, thanks to the ongoing dialogue with the national/community customs authorities.

WebLegal and the WLT organize meetings both in Italy and abroad and working sessions on various technical and legal aspects, involving also the staff of the customs authorities operating at the point of entry of the goods.

The actions by WebLegal and the WLT (click here and here for some articles) led to significant reduction (or disappearance, in some cases) of IP/PBR infringement in several EU countries, educating the market players to respect IPRs and returning to the IPRs owner the full control of the import-export and the distribution chain .

Contact us for further enquiries on the White List Team.