IPR

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is a collective name for the legal protection of intellectual and immaterial assets. IPR includes among other things patent law, trademark law, law on design protection and copyright law.

Put simply, a patent is the sole right to an invention. Inventions are in turn new, technical solutions to problems. In order to be granted patent protection, the idea must be new, significantly different from previous known technology and industrially applicable. A patent applies for up to 20 years; for pharmaceuticals 25 years.

Applying for a patent or other form of legal protection is often a lengthy, costly and time-consuming process. However, if the intention is to license the invention to a company or use it as the basis for a start-up company, a patent is usually a prerequisite.

In order to validate a patent in Sweden, you must first and foremost have designated Sweden in your EP application. Once the European patent has been granted, you will need to take measures to have it published in Sweden.

Read more at The Swedish Patent and Registration Office

More information and support is available at the EU commission website www.iprhelpdesk.eu. You can find guidelines on managing IP in contracts and IP in H2020-projects www.iprhelpdesk.eu/IP-Guides .