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. […]
EU-Chile Interim Trade Agreement enters into force
The EU-Chile Interim Trade Agreement (ITA) has entered into force, following the completion of Chile’s ratification process. The ITA, which was signed in December 2023, is of key geopolitical importance. It will boost the competitiveness of businesses on both sides, while providing a shared platform for the development of our net-zero economies. This work will be further underpinned by ongoing […]
The 2025 SME Fund is now operational
The Commission and the European Union Intellectual Property Office have launched the SME Fund 2025 to provide financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a grant scheme designed to help SMEs to better manage and protect their intangible assets. The SME Fund helps SMEs protect their intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, industrial designs […]
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, […]