Intellectual Property Rights
The Working Group on Intellectual Property is responsible for the legislation contained in Annex XVII and Protocol 28 of the EEA Agreement. Article 65 (2) of the EEA Agreement covers intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property rights (IPR) provide an incentive for innovation, employment and competition, and protect the right-holders against the use of their property without authorisation. The EEA Agreement contains harmonised provisions on intellectual property rights. In order to support the free movement of goods, these rules also contain the principle of regional exhaustion of intellectual property rights, applicable in the entire EEA. In practice, once a product has been placed on the market within the EEA by a right-holder (or with their consent), they can no longer prevent the importation of the product from another EEA State.
The Working Group on Intellectual Property meets regularly and actively follows EU initiatives within the field of IPR.
See also:
Digital Single Market - Copyright
DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) - Intellectual Property
DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) - Enforcement of intellectual property rights
EU Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights - EUIPO
EFTA Surveillance Authority - Intellectual property