Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights is a European Union directive in the field of intellectual property law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. The directive covers the remedies that are available in the civil courts, but not criminal offenses. Under Article 3(1), Members States can be censured in the European Court of Justice if their civil procedures on the infringement of intellectual property rights are "unnecessarily complicated or costly, or entail unreasonable time-limits or unwarranted delays". Otherwise the Directive harmonizes the rules on standing, evidence, interlocutory measures, seizure and injunctions, damages and costs and judicial publication.

Evidence
At the request of an applicant, the judicial authorities may issue an interlocutory injunction to prevent an "imminent infringement" of intellectual property rights or to prevent a continuing infringement. In the latter case, the order may be followed with a recurring penalty payment or lodging of a guarantee intended to compensate the rightholder (paragraph a). An injunction can also be issued, under the same conditions, against an intermediary, but these are covered in Article 8(2) of the Information Society Directive and are, in principle, subject to national law.
Apart from the ordinary injunctions of the previous paragraph there also exist the so-called Mareva injunctions in Article 9(2). In common law, these are ex parte and in personam orders used to freeze assets to prevent abuses of process. They can be issued as worldwide injunctions, preventing worldwide dispersal. In that case, their effectiveness depends on their in personam character, as a party who is found to be guilty of disposing of assets will be held to be in contempt of court.[1] Like Anton Piller orders, their use is confined mostly to the UK.
Article 9(2) provides that, in the case of an infringement on a commercial scale, judicial authorities may order a precautionary seizure of "movable and immovable property" which includes freezing the bank accounts and other assets. This may only be done if the applicant demonstrates that it is likely that recovery of damages will be endangered. Further to that, documents relating to banking and other financial transaction may be communicated.

Provisional and precautionary measures
The provisions of the Directive were due to be implemented in all member states of the European Union by 29 April 2006. However, a number of states have not completed the necessary steps. [2]
The Directive has been implemented into United Kingdom law by the Intellectual Property (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2006.[3]

Criticism

Customs Regulation 3295/94
Directive on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights (proposed)
Copyright law of the European Union
Community Trade Mark
European Union patent law
Copyright infringement