Intellectual Property Enforcement

What is IP enforcement?

Intellectual property (IP) enforcement is the act of taking legal action when IP rights – including trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs, patents, geographical indications – and trade secrets have been infringed. The objective is to stop the infringement, prevent further violations of IP rights and remedy the prejudice caused by these actions.

IP rights are valuable assets for businesses and individuals, providing protection for innovative ideas, technology solutions, brands, and creative works. Merely obtaining IP rights can not guarantee they will not be infringed. Enforcement of these IP rights is crucial for the success of innovators, entrepreneurs and creators.

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Enforcement of IP rights under the TRIPS Agreement

Part III of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) sets the minimum legal standards in relation to IP enforcement. Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are free to determine the method of implementing the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement within their own legal systems to achieve an appropriate balance between private and public interests.

The civil and criminal remedies in the TRIPS Agreement include provisional measures, civil and administrative procedures, border measures, and criminal procedures and penalties.

The civil and criminal remedies in the TRIPS Agreement include provisional measures (Provisional measures are temporary actions taken by a court or administrative authority before a final decision is issued. They seek to prevent IP rights infringement from occurring, such as preventing infringing goods from entering the market, or to preserve evidence concerning an alleged infringement), civil and administrative procedures (Civil and administrative procedures and remedies are legal mechanisms and remedies to address IP infringements before civil and administrative authorities), border measures (Border measures involve taking action at the border to stop infringing goods and prevent their release into the market), and criminal procedures and penalties (Criminal procedures and penalties are legal mechanisms to address IP crime, especially trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy).

Want to learn more?

Visit the global WIPO Lex Database to access legal information on IP enforcement, including IP laws and regulations, WIPO-administered and IP related treaties, and leading judicial decisions.

Case law on IP

Visit the Internet Sources for Intellectual Property Case Law to access a non-exhaustive compilation of links to online databases that contain decisions or extracts of such decisions in the field of intellectual property law.

Why enforce IP rights?

Intellectual Property enforcement means different things to different stakeholders. For businesses, it is a crucial legal mechanism to protect their investment and ensure fair competition. For consumers, it helps to guarantee product quality and safety. For governments, it is a way to protect revenue necessary for important social services and to ensure a sound and fair business environment necessary to attract investment. 

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Types of IP infringement

Trademark infringement occurs when there is an unauthorized use of a registered trademark or similar sign to identify identical or similar products and services as those covered by the registered trademark that lead to likelihood of confusion among consumers about the origin of the goods and services that are identified by these signs.

Trademark counterfeiting is a special category of trademark infringement. It consists of an unauthorized use of any sign, which is identical to or indistinguishable in its essential aspects from the registered trademark, in relation to goods or services which are identical with those for which the trademark is registered.

Copyright infringement involves the acts of use, reproduction, distribution, adaptation, performance or display of a copyrighted work without the consent of the copyright holder or the related rights holder.

Copyright piracy is a special type of copyright infringement consisting of the reproduction of a copyrighted work without the consent of the right holder.

Patent infringement is an unauthorized act of - for example - making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing for these purposes a patented product. Where the subject-matter of the patent is a process, infringement involves the act of using, offering for sale, selling or importing for these purposes at least the product obtained by the patented process.

Infringement of an industrial design occurs when there is an unauthorized use of a registered industrial design, which can lead to confusion among consumers about the origin of the goods. These unauthorized uses may involve the making, selling or importation of articles bearing or embodying a design that is a copy of, or substantially similar to, the registered design.

The infringement of geographical indications occurs when these distinctive signs are used without the authorization of the right holders and in a way that falsely suggests the goods labeled with these signs originate from a specific geographical region. This can lead to confusion among consumers about the true geographical origin and special qualities of the products.

In general, trade secret protection confers owners the right to prevent the information lawfully within their control from being disclosed, acquired or used by others without their consent in a manner contrary to honest commercial practice. While a final determination of whether trade secret protection is violated or not depends on the circumstances of each individual case, in general, unfair practices in respect of secret information include breach of contract, breach of confidence and industrial or commercial espionage.

WIPO’s role in IP enforcement

First and foremost, WIPO – through the Building Respect for IP (BRIP) Division – hosts the Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE), which is the preeminent international forum for Member States and stakeholders to discuss topical issues involving IP enforcement and building respect for IP.  WIPO also provides legislative assistance and capacity building programs to its Member States, develops and operates systems for Member States and stakeholders to use in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy, provides awareness raising assistance, and collaborates with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) in anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy efforts.
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IMAGE: WIPO

Types of IP infringement

IMAGE: AlexanderFord/ E+/ Getty images

Trademark infringement

Trademark infringement occurs when there is an unauthorized use of a registered trademark or similar sign to identify identical or similar products and services as those covered by the registered trademark that lead to likelihood of confusion among consumers about the origin of the goods and services that are identified by these signs.

Trademark counterfeiting is a special category of trademark infringement. It consists of an unauthorized use of any sign, which is identical to or indistinguishable in its essential aspects from the registered trademark, in relation to goods or services which are identical with those for which the trademark is registered.

IMAGE: Sinenkiy/IStock/Getty Images

Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement involves the acts of use, reproduction, distribution, adaptation, performance or display of a copyrighted work without the consent of the copyright holder or the related rights holder.

Copyright piracy is a special type of copyright infringement consisting of the reproduction of a copyrighted work without the consent of the right holder.

IMAGE: gorodenkoff/IStock/Getty Images

Patent infringement

Patent infringement is an unauthorized act of - for example - making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing for these purposes a patented product. Where the subject-matter of the patent is a process, infringement involves the act of using, offering for sale, selling or importing for these purposes at least the product obtained by the patented process.
IMAGE: Laurence Dutton/E+/Getty Images

Industrial design infringement

Infringement of an industrial design occurs when there is an unauthorized use of a registered industrial design, which can lead to confusion among consumers about the origin of the goods. These unauthorized uses may involve the making, selling or importation of articles bearing or embodying a design that is a copy of, or substantially similar to, the registered design.
IMAGE: StevanZZ/iStock/Getty Images 

Geographical indication infringement

The infringement of geographical indications occurs when these distinctive signs are used without the authorization of the right holders and in a way that falsely suggests the goods labeled with these signs originate from a specific geographical region. This can lead to confusion among consumers about the true geographical origin and special qualities of the products.
IMAGE: nespix/IStock/Getty Images

Trade secrets

In general, trade secret protection confers owners the right to prevent the information lawfully within their control from being disclosed, acquired or used by others without their consent in a manner contrary to honest commercial practice. While a final determination of whether trade secret protection is violated or not depends on the circumstances of each individual case, in general, unfair practices in respect of secret information include breach of contract, breach of confidence and industrial or commercial espionage.

Learn more about IP enforcement

Podcast miniseries: Eye on Copyright Enforcement

Welcome to Eye on Copyright Enforcement, a miniseries of WIPO’s podcast, Intellectual Property Matters. Listen to conversations with artists, lawyers and creative industry experts, as we explore the importance of respecting and enforcing copyright. This podcast miniseries is brought to you by WIPO’s Building Respect for IP Division, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) of the Republic of Korea.

Respect for IP Webinars

WIPO’s Respect for IP webinars bring together speakers from diverse backgrounds, including academics, practitioners and IP enforcement officials.  We address topical issues around IP enforcement and building a culture of respect for IP through education and awareness raising.
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A Casebook on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights

PUBLICATION YEAR: 2018