États-Unis d'Amérique

Suède

Moyens de faire respecter les DPI

Mesures provisoires

9. Article 50.1 require that judicial authorities have the authority to order prompt and effective provisional remedies to preserve relevant evidence in regard to an alleged infringement. IP/N/6/SWE/1 describes the authority which exists to prevent further infringement or to preserve assets that might be needed to satisfy a judgement. Please identify any provisional measures available to preserve relevant evidence in regard to an alleged infringement and cite the relevant legal authority.

Provisions on orders for the preservation of evidence are contained in various provisions in the Code of Judicial Procedure. Thus, Chapter 27, Article 1, of that Code prescribes, as regards criminal proceedings: "Objects which reasonable can be assumed to be of importance for the investigation of an offence, or to have been taken from a person by an offence or to be subject to forfeiture by reason of an offence may be seized" ("tagna i beslag"); according to Article 5 of the same Chapter, Courts may, if delay entails risks, issue such seizure orders immediately to remain effective until otherwise ordered. In addition to these provisions also Chapter 15 of the same Code contains provisions on general provisional measures in civil cases. These have been elaborated on in some detail in Sweden's responses to the Checklist of Issues on Enforcement submitted by the Ministry of Justice in April 1996. Such measures may also, in practice, serve the purpose of securing evidence. Furthermore, Chapter 38, Article 2, of the Code (which provision has general application in all types of cases) prescribes that "anyone possessing a document that can be assumed to be of importance as evidence is obliged to produce it" and Article 4 of the same Chapter prescribes that "when anyone is under an obligation to produce a document as evidence, the Court may direct him to produce it". Essentially, the same provisions apply as regards examination of objects etc., provided for in Chapter 39 of the Code. All these provisions imply that provisional measures for the preservation of evidence are available under Swedish procedural law. In addition to what has been said now, also the application of some provisions in the intellectual property laws may have the effect of securing evidence in a particular case. Thus, for instance, Article 41 of the Trademark Act and Article 55 of the Copyright Act contain provisions on the seizure, also on a provisional basis of goods or objects in respect of which an infringement may have occurred. Such seized goods or objects may certainly also be of importance for evidentiary purposes.