The EU and the Philippines have reached a substantial agreement in their negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which is intended to strengthen economic ties between the EU and another fast-growing strategic partner in South-East Asia. Maros Šefčovič, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, and Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque, the Philippines’ Secretary of Trade and […]
The Commission is proposing a new European Innovation Act to promote innovative European ideas and make them globally competitive
The Commission has proposed a new European Innovation Act to help ensure that Europe’s most innovative ideas are developed, funded and scaled up in Europe. A key initiative under the EU Strategy for Start-ups and Scale-ups and the EU Competitiveness Compass, the proposal will strengthen the EU’s long-term competitiveness, prosperity and technological sovereignty. Europe boasts […]
Commission welcomes deal on compulsory licensing to boost EU crisis readiness.
The European Commission welcomes the political agreement between the European Parliament and the EU Member States on new rules for compulsory licensing, an important intellectual property tool to the existing EU crisis response toolkit. The new Regulation establishes an EU-level framework to efficiently grant a compulsory licence in clearly defined cross-border crisis or emergency situations. […]
New unitary patent system launched to make it easier for companies to protect their innovations in Europe
The Commission welcomes the launch of the Unitary Patent system today, which will make it simpler and easier for companies to protect their innovations in Europe and capitalise on their intellectual property. The Unitary Patent system will strengthen the EU’s innovation and competitiveness and complete the Single Market for patents. It will initially cover 17 […]
Intellectual property: Industrial design
The Commission is presenting revised rules that will make it cheaper, quicker and more predictable to protect industrial designs across the EU. An industrial design constitutes the outer appearance of a product characterised by its lines, contours or shape. The proposals for a revised Regulation and Directive on industrial designs modernise the existing Community design […]
Intellectual property in the 20th century (1900 – 1961)
Intellectual property grew in importance throughout the 20th century. Legislative initiatives and jurisprudence were forced to keep pace with rapid technological developments, such as easier and cheaper ways of copying content (have you ever wondered how the photocopier, the VHS tape, CDs and now the internet have affected the protection of intellectual property rights?) At […]
Over 30 000 web domains shut down for intellectual property infringement
Over 30 506 domain names that distributed counterfeit and pirated items over the internet during operation IOS X have been seized. These included counterfeit pharmaceuticals and pirated movies, illegal television streaming, music, software, electronics, and other bogus products. 3 arrests and 26 000 luxury products seized The investigation was carried out by Law enforcement authorities from […]
Strengthening cooperation to fight intellectual property crimes
Counterfeit goods are a significant problem that hits the EU particularly hard, accounting for about 5 % of imports. Organised criminal groups are often behind intellectual property crime and thus benefit financially from it. Fighting intellectual property crime is key to sustaining jobs and growth in the European economy, and to safeguarding consumers against dangerous and substandard […]
H2020: Innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises: Closing the finance gap for IPR-driven start-ups and SMEs
This call (INNOSUP-10-2020), which aims to encourage innovative SMEs and start-ups to better exploit and promote their innovative assets, as well as to develop a strategic vision based on their first results that is easily evaluable by funders, belongs to the Innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises sub-programme of the H2020 Programme. Innovative European companies, […]