Intellectual property rights are subject to national borders. For example, you cannot obtain protection in Germany by registering a patent in France. The same applies to a trademark registered in the European Union, which will not cover Switzerland or Monaco for example.

However, exhaustion of rights can occur in some cases, especially in the European Union. Thus, a rights holder who allows a product protected by a trademark or patent to be marketed in France, cannot prevent the resale of said product in other European Union countries, even if they own titles in these other countries.

By putting in place a cross-border strategy, you can take these aspects into consideration by identifying in advance the countries in which protection may be sought and to what extent the exhaustion of rights may occur.

Rules on jurisdiction in case of infringement may also apply and determine whether infringement action is appropriate. Likewise, cooperation with customs lets you take the cross-border aspects of rights operation into consideration.

Hautier IP can help you to put this kind of cross-border strategy in place.