Building on the first edition organised in 2025, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), in cooperation with Eurojust through the Western Balkans Criminal Justice (WBCJ) Project, held its second joint inter-regional meeting on investigating and prosecuting intellectual property crime in Alicante, Spain. Eurojust was represented by the National Member for Germany, Jan MacLean, as Contact Point for the WBCJ Project.

The meeting brought together prosecutors and practitioners from Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine and EU Member States to exchange experiences on the investigation and prosecution of different new forms of IP crime. Discussions focused on practical challenges and recent developments, including the marketing of IP-infringing goods.

The event was followed by the 13th European Intellectual Property Prosecutors Network (EIPPN) Workshop, in which WB and EaP authorities participated and which addressed further developments in IP crime legislation and jurisprudence, as well as emerging challenges linked to new technologies, artificial intelligence and online crime.

This second edition further strengthened the cooperation between Eurojust and EUIPO and between the WBCJ Project and EUIPO-implemented projects (EU4IP and Eu4IP-WB) and confirmed the value of bringing together practitioners from different regions to exchange practical experience and build professional networks.

Looking ahead, the cooperation will continue with the next edition planned to be hosted by Eurojust in 2027.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.