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Europe - Fact sheets

Our fact sheets provide you with in-depth information on different intellectual property rights (IPR), IP legislations and applications in specific fields of research and business.

  • General publications
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Trademark Management : Looking After Your Trademark Once the Registration is Done

With this fact sheet we aim to guide you through the essential actions to secure your trademark rights after registration. Whether you are an emerging startup or an established business, protecting your brand is not just a choice; it is a strategic necessity in today‘s competitive marketplace.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Commercialising IP: Licence Agreements

Undoubtedly, licensing is one of the most common pathways to turn intellectual property (IP) into profit and transferring knowledge between different parties – be it from a research organisation to a company or from one business entity to another.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Alternative Dispute Resolution

The successful development and commercialisation of technology requires a carefully integrated dispute resolution strategy as a key factor in securing the value of technologies and associated intellectual property (IP) rights developed in research and development (R&D) collaborations and their subse

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

IP in the Fashion Industry

Europe is home to some of history’s most important textile and fashion inventions and a number of the most celebrated designers, manufacturers, innovators and artists, such as Coco Chanel, Giorgio Armani and Christian Dior, to name a few.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

IP in the Field of Renewable Energies

Renewable energy is energy from sources that do not diminish or that can be replenished.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Trademarks: The Face of Your Business

Trademarks might be one of the best-known Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

IP Enforcement: Asserting Your Rights

Intellectual property (IP) can be protected by formal IP rights such as trademarks or patents.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Domain Names and Cybersquatting

The Internet has created plenty of opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as it has revolutionised the dynamics of international commerce and is an excellent means to boost brand visibility.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Copyright Essentials

Copyright is an intellectual property right (IPR) that grants authors, artists and other creators protection for their literary, artistic and scientific creations, generally referred to as “works”.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Design Searching

Risks of investing in non-original design or filing an application for identical or confusingly similar design can be avoided or at least limited by performing design searching.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Inventorship, Authorship and Ownership

Many people confuse the concepts of the ownership of Intellectual Property (IP) and the inventorship or authorship of creations, or sometimes they are simply not aware of their different nature.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Intellectual Property Valuation

Intellectual property (IP) assets such as patents, trademarks, copyrights or trade secrets are increasingly the core of many organisations and transactions.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Joint Ownership

Joint ownership often arises in connection with collaborative innovation and is of particular relevance to EU-funded programmes, joint ventures and more generally to any research project entailing the co-development of intellectual property (IP).

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Trade Secrets: Managing Confidential Business Information

Oftentimes significant research or business information might not fall within the scope of protection provided by traditional intellectual property (IP) rights such as patents or copyright.

  • Factsheet
  • European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency

Non-Disclosure Agreement: a Business Tool

Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), otherwise called confidentiality agreements, are private contracts through which valuable information is kept safe.