Following the receipt of legal advice, including from the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Enterprise determined that the reassignment of functions from the Controller of Intellectual Property to the Courts constituted an appropriate and necessary course of action.
Adjudication of a dispute by the Controller under section 208 of the Act extends beyond the scope of intellectual property law and requires the application of equitable principles.
Such assessments, particularly those involving fairness, proportionality, and the respective contributions of parties, fall outside the institutional expertise of the Controller.
In contrast, the Courts possess the requisite experience and jurisprudential foundation to adjudicate on matters of equity, drawing on a well-established body of case law and a long-standing tradition of applying equitable remedies.
The Controller of Intellectual Property is responsible for the granting and registration of intellectual property rights in Ireland, specifically patent, trademark, and industrial design rights as provided for under the various Acts, Rules and Regulations for which the Controller has statutory responsibility.
The Controller also has certain statutory functions under the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 (as amended), which are mainly concerned with the registration of copyright licensing bodies, references and applications relating to licensing schemes operated by those bodies.
The Office of the Controller of Intellectual property also disseminates information on intellectual property rights and provides my Department with input to the planning and drafting of certain intellectual property legislation and the formulation and implementation of policy in relation to the development of the system of intellectual property rights protection.
A full review of the Controller of Intellectual Property's functions was not deemed necessary in the preparation of this Bill, as its scope is limited to matters relating to the sharing of royalties in sound recordings arising from the CJEU Judgement in case C-265/19.
My Department will continue to monitor and engage in policy and legislative changes at EU, including as part of the forthcoming review of the Copyright in the DSM Directive (2019/790/EU). In this context, consideration will be given to the necessity of any further legislative changes to the Controller's statutory functions.
The Government is committed to ensuring that Ireland's copyright regime remains robust and in line with EU norms, while also being consistent with our legal system and traditions.
