New board of directors and honorary member for the SACG

SACG celebrated its 20th anniversary with a well-attended seminar in connection with its annual meeting held on 14 June 2017, where a new board of directors and an honorary member was appointed.

A new board of directors for the SACG was appointed at the annual meeting. The board now consists of Advokat Erik Ficks (Roschier), Advokat Sara Sparring (Synch), Advokat Ludvig Holm (Lindahl), Omar Baki (Brann), Nina Ebkar (Electrolux), Jesper Sundström (Zacco), Karin Crafoord (Groth & Co), Lena Johansson (ICC), Maria Herlitz Sundelius (H&M), Måns Sjöstrand (Daniel Wellington), Associate Professor Stojan Arnerstål (Uppsala University, IMK), and Professor Sanna Wolk (Uppsala University, IMK).

It was also decided to appoint the first honorary member of the SACG, namely Advokat Ann-Charlotte Söderlund Björk (Gozzo), who was chair of the SACG from its formation until 2015. At their subsequent initial board meeting, the new board appointed Erik Ficks as chair, Sara Sparring as vice chair, Ludvig Holm as secretary, and Omar Baki as treasurer.

”I’m delighted to have the opportunity to chair the SACG in the year it celebrates its 20th anniversary and in the years to come. The trade in counterfeit products presents constant challenges and, in recent times, digital trade has made it more difficult than ever for rights holders and consumers to identify and combat counterfeiting, whilst, at the same time, there has been an increased awareness that lawful trade is a prerequisite for, among other things, sustainability in production. The SACG has a hugely important role to play, not only when it comes to legislation and policy, but above all when it comes to assisting in disseminating information, an example being our efforts to assist rights holders to provide information to the police and customs authorities to identify counterfeit goods,” says Erik Ficks.

”It gives me an enormous amount of pleasure to have the opportunity to see the SACG continue to develop and act as a strong presence in this important area. I think that the new board has everything it needs to take our previous efforts forward into the increasingly digital reality. Naturally, I’m also honoured to accept this appointment and look forward to supporting the board’s activities as best as I can, both in Sweden and globally”, says Ann-Charlotte Söderlund Björk.

The SACG counts as members close to 50 Swedish and foreign companies, as well as a number of individuals. For a long time now, the SACG has been actively involved in the activities of the European Observatory on Infringements in IPR, at the EUIPO in Alicante.