Welcome to the United States Mission to the European Union’s toolkit on intellectual property rights.  The Department of Commerce designed this toolkit to provide general information about intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in the European Union and an overview of the steps you can take to protect and enforce those rights. 

If your business conducts any of its activities in any one of the twenty-seven EU Member States, or if there is a possibility that it might do so in the future, we hope that this toolkit will help you start thinking about how to best protect your intellectual property.

Please browse the chapters of this IPR Toolkit for answers to your questions or contact us at:  jennifer.kane@mail.doc.gov.

Chapter 1:  The IPR Environment in the EU

Chapter 2:  Copyright Protection in the EU

Chapter 3:  Patent Protection in the EU

Chapter 4:  Trademark Protection in the EU

Chapter 5:  Community Designs in the EU

Chapter 6:  Geographical Indications in the EU

Chapter 7:  Trade Secrets, Trade Show Protection, and other information

Click here to download the entire IPR Toolkit.

Disclaimer

The information provided in this toolkit by no means constitutes legal advice and should not be a substitute for advice of counsel. Its intended purpose is to provide an overview of the European Union’s IPR environment, available enforcement mechanisms and European Union government offices sharing IPR jurisdiction. We recommend that US companies seeking to do business in the European Union, or facing IPR infringement issues, retain qualified US and/or EU legal counsel and pursue their rights through the European Union's IPR enforcement regime.