European Commission Directorate-General for Trade

Intellectual property

Protection and enforcement of intellectual property are crucial for the EU's ability to compete in the global economy.

Because European competitiveness builds on the innovation and value added to products by high levels of creativity, the protection and enforcement of intellectual property go to the heart of the EU's ability to compete in the global economy. EU growth and jobs are hampered when our ideas, brands and products are pirated and counterfeited.  Moreover, counterfeit products often place our citizens' safety or health at risk.

So intellectual property rights ("IP rights" or "IPR") such as patents, trade marks, designs, copyrights or geographical indications are becoming increasingly important for European inventors, creators and businesses. These rights enable them to prevent unauthorised exploitation of their creations and distinctive signs, or to allow such exploitation in return for compensation (other benefits of IP rights).

One of the EU's objectives is to see such standards respected by third countries.  This objective is being pursued in different ways:

• The EU works in the WTO to improve the protection and enforcement of IP rights and was a key supporter of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs).
• The EU negotiates IPR provisions in its bilateral trade agreements and works closely at a technical level with its trading partners on IPR issues.
• With the authorities of certain third countries, the EU conducts "political dialogues" on IP issues (usually involving European industry), and/or runs technical co-operation programmes intended to help enhance IPR system.
• The EU was also involved in the development of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

IPR policy can also be a tool to promote development, in particular when it concerns biodiversity, technology transfer or food security.  Relationships between IPR and development policies are currently being explored in the framework of the "Policy Coherence for Development" initiative.

Access to medicines is an issue for which IPR aspects are particularly relevant. In this context, the European Union is committed to the Doha Declaration on TRIPs and Public Health and has consistently led efforts to facilitate access to medicines in developing countries, and to strike the right balance between the IP rights of pharmaceutical companies and the need to ensure that medicines are available for populations in need in the developing world. With regard to the free trade agreement (FTA) under negotiation with India, for instance, the EU fully acknowledges the right and capacity of this country to manufacture and export medicines to other developing countries facing public health problems, and does not propose IPR provisions which would restrict this possibility.

• Read more on IPR and access to medicines

Supporting information

Commission resources

• Legislations, reports and texts
• Recent EU contributions to the WTO

IPR aspects of other Commission services

• Internal Market:
  • Copyright
  • Industrial Property
  • Enforcement
• Enterprise & Industry:
  • IP rights and innovation
  • IP rights and industrial competitiveness

Other resources

• OECD project on counterfeiting and privacy
• Transatlantic IPR portal
• UNCTAD's Intellectual Property Programme
• WIPO international IPR treaties
• WCO - SECURE - Provisional Global Customs Standards to Counter Intellectual Property Rights Infringements
• The World Customs Organisation and the protection of IP rights
• Interpol Intellectual property crime and counterfeiting
• Business initiatives: REACT; BASCAP