State of intellectual property in third countries

All interested stakeholders

In the framework of the European Union’s Strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Third Countries, the European Commission (DG Trade) is launching a public consultation in order to gather information on the state of intellectual property protection and enforcement in third countries.

The main objective of this public consultation is to identify third countries in which the state of IPR protection and enforcement gives rise to the highest level of concern and to update the list of the so-called "priority countries". The public consultation will be one of the tools used to help improve the IPR systems in third countries. It will help the European Commission focus its efforts and resources on the priority countries and on the specific areas of concern, with the aim of improving IPR protection and enforcement worldwide.

The results of this public consultation will also enable rightsholders to gain awareness of potential risks to their IP when engaging in business activities in the priority countries and thus allow them to design business strategies and operations to protect their IP rights.