Copyright (Intellectual, Industrial)

The protection of intellectual and industrial property is important for promoting innovation and creativity, developing employment, and improving competitiveness. The European Commission works to harmonize laws relating to industrial property rights in EU countries, to avoid barriers to trade and to create efficient EU-wide systems for the protection of such rights. It fights against piracy and counterfeiting and aims to improve access and use of intellectual property rights in the internal market.

Under the EU’s flagship initiative “Innovation Union”, the Commission undertakes to create an innovation-friendly environment. Within this framework, it adopted a comprehensive IPR strategy in 2011, to ensure that the Single Market for intellectual property functions smoothly. The EU also prepares modern copyright rules to counter the challenges of the digital age. The European Commission has presented legislative proposals to ensure safe and seamless access of consumers and creators to the digital world. The EU has also adopted a legislative framework for the creation of a unitary patent and an international agreement on the creation of the Unified Patent Court. The unitary patent is expected to ensure uniform protection of an invention in the 26 EU member countries involved, including Greece.