In any foreign market companies should consider several general principles for effective protection of their intellectual property.  For background, link to our article on Protecting Intellectual Property and Stopfakes.gov for more resources.

First, it is important to have an overall strategy to protect your IP.  Second, IP may be protected differently in the EU than in the United States.  Third, rights must be registered and enforced in the EU under Swedish laws.  For example, your U.S. trademark and patent registrations will not protect you in the EU.  There is no “international copyright” that will automatically protect an author’s writings throughout the entire world.  However, most countries do offer copyright protection to foreign works in accordance with international agreements.

The Special 301 Report is the result of an annual review of the state of IP protection and enforcement in U.S. trading partners around the world, which the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) conducts to identify commercial environments possibly harmful to intellectual property.  Sweden is not on the list.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has positioned IP attachés in key markets, including in Europe.

The contact in Europe is:

IP Attaché - European Union, Rachel Bae

U.S. Mission to the European Union

Boulevard du Régent 27

BE-1000 Brussels, Belgium

Office Phone: +32.2.811-5308, e-mail: Rachel.Bae@trade.gov

For more information, contact ITA’s Office of Intellectual Property Rights (OSIP) Director, Stevan Mitchell at Stevan.Mitchell@trade.gov.

For additional information on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, visit the U.S.  Investment Climate Statement website.