Exporting your intellectual property product
You enter a foreign market with a new product that is protected by intellectual property. For example, a patent, trademark, or copyright. Intellectual property rights (IP rights) may differ per country. Investigate if extending the protection of your IP rights is necessary for your export country.
Investigate how to expand your IP rights
There are both national and international procedures for applying for patents, and for protecting trademarks and designs. Investigate first if it makes sense to protect your product innovation in other countries. Do you have unregistered IP rights, such as copyrights? Check which rules apply in the export country. Also, consider the product requirements and legislation per country.
Consult national IP registers
It is possible that someone abroad already has an IP right for your technology, brand, or design. If you market your product there, you are breaking that IP right. Always check the national IP registers before marketing your product internationally. For patents, look in the international patent database Espacenet and in national patent registers. For brands, consult the database TMview. And for designs, look at DesignView.
Protect your IP for all of Europe
You can often register trademark rights and design rights for the entire European Union in one go. It is different with patents. You can apply for a European patent, and when that patent has been granted, you must choose specific countries. You can choose these countries separately or choose for a unitary patent that applies to 18 countries at the same time.
A unitary patent can be financially attractive if you want to apply for a patent in at least 5 member countries. There is 1 procedure with 1 translation, and you pay maintenance tax once a year.
Do you need help choosing between a unitary patent or a European patent with separately selected countries? An infographic by the Netherlands Patent Office (in Dutch) sets out some of the key choices to consider.
Determine how you export
There are 2 ways to export your product with IP rights. You can export the product yourself. Or you can license your product to a party in another country. With this licence, you give someone permission to make and/or sell your invention on the local market. This way you earn money from foreign markets that you cannot or do not want to enter yourself. Make clear agreements about the terms of the deal, and write everything down in a licence agreement.
Find a licensee for your patent
Do you want to find a licensee for your patent? Then you can find licensing parties in patent databases (in Dutch), for example, or through a knowledge broker. Knowledge brokers look for a suitable partner for licensors and licensees. They arrange the contact between 2 parties.
Consult an adviser
Do you need help or advice? The patent advisers at the Netherlands Patent Office can provide tailor-made support (in Dutch). For example, help with searching for patent information, workshops, conversations, and webinars. Do you have questions about the protection of your trademark or design? Then contact the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP).