6 tips for international business and intellectual property

6 tips for international business and intellectual property 

Before you cross the border with your innovative product, it is helpful to think about some essential things regarding intellectual property. Here are 6 tips from our patent advisers:

Tip 1: Consider secrecy at international trade fairs

Do you want to explore the market by showing your innovative products at international trade fairs? If you disclose the technology of your product, you can no longer patent it. So before a trade fair visit, discuss with your employees what falls under trade secrets so that no one unknowingly reveals something that should be kept secret.

Tip 2: Investigate whether you are infringing others' IP rights

A product may have several IP rights. If someone else has these rights, this does not necessarily mean that you have to stop immediately. What is important is that you obtain permission from the right holder, for example, through cooperation or a licence.

As an importer or exporter, you are responsible for preventing the infringement of the IP rights of others. It does not matter whether you act through your own establishment or through an exporter or importer. Pay attention to this also if you license intellectual property to others. Research the local infringement risks in the country or area where you want to operate. That you do not infringe with your product in the Netherlands may not provide the same guarantee in other countries or vice versa.

Read more about infringing the IP rights of others

Freedom-to-operate

With a freedom-to-operate investigation, you conduct a risk analysis. You examine whether you infringe the rights of others when you enter the market with your product. This risk exists not only for technology but also for software, trademarks, and design. The Netherlands Patent Office helps you get started in the Espacenet patent database free of charge. In TM View and DesignView, you will find trademarks and designs.

Read how to convince investors with freedom-to-operate

Tip 3: Register your intellectual property rights in key countries

The registration of IP rights is often a strategic consideration. Several factors come into play when choosing countries, such as:

• your business strategy - what importance do you attach to a country for the coming years?
• on the economic level - what is the market size? What are the costs and benefits of protection in that country?
• competition - where are your main competitors located?
• production - what are your and your competition's production locations?
• legal - can you win a court case for an acceptable budget in a reasonably short time?

Due to national laws, the costs of protection and enforcement can vary (significantly) from country to country. Do you suspect products entering the country that infringe your rights? Then you can ask customs to keep an eye on that.

Tip 4: Take international procedures into account

If you apply for IP rights internationally, consider different international procedures. For patents, in addition to national procedures, there is the 'global' PCT procedure and the European procedure with the unitary patent. There are rules on how and when to go through these procedures.

Read more about patent applications

Tip 5: Pay attention to European exhaustion

Have your products been marketed anywhere in the EU or EEA by you or others with your permission? Then, those products may be freely traded thereafter, also to countries where you have IP rights. This is called European exhaustion. Exhaustion applies to all intellectual property rights. For example: have you, as the rights holder, sold the products on the Spanish market at a lower price than on the Dutch market? Do you have an IP right in the Netherlands? Then, a third party may still resell those products from Spain in the Netherlands without you being able to do anything against it. So consider what risks price differences between countries pose.

Tip 6: Contact a patent adviser

The patent advisers at the Netherlands Patent Office know a lot about doing international business with innovative products. They answer questions such as:

• What forms of protection are needed to protect my innovation inside and outside the Netherlands? 
• What role do patents play in attracting investment?

Contact a patent advisor for a free consultation under confidentiality.

Innovate internationally with RVO

Besides information on IP rights, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) offers more services if you have international ambitions. For example, RVO helps you with information on specific countries and events such as trade missions, subsidies and funding. Are you an innovative, technological company? Then, see what support from our Horizon Europe programme is of interest to you in your plans to innovate internationally.

Especially to support SMEs in international trade and innovation in Europe, the Enterprise Europe Network (in Dutch only) was set up by the European Commission. This network helps you, for example, with finding business partners worldwide or with European laws and regulations.

Read more about international business