Intellectual Property Rights
Germany boasts a robust regime to protect intellectual property rights. Legal structures are strong
and enforcement is good. Nonetheless, internet piracy and counterfeit goods remain an issue.
Germany is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since 1970.
Germany is also a party to the major international intellectual property protection agreements:
the Bern Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the Paris Convention for
the Protection of Industrial Property, the Universal Copyright Convention, the Geneva
Phonograms Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Brussels Satellite Convention, and
the Treaty of Rome on Neighboring Rights.
Many of the latest developments in German IP law
derived from European legislation with the objective to make applications less burdensome and
allowing for European IP protection.
EU Forecast
euf:ba18a:169/nws-01