Industrial property rights play an increasingly important role in our society: in view of globalisation and growing competition it is crucially important for entrepreneurs to protect their business ideas and technical developments against imitations as far as possible. Intellectual property law, and patent law, trade mark and design law in particular, comprehensively regulate the existing exclusive rights of the owner of such assets.

In addition to the traditional concept of intellectual property law, copyright law protects personal intellectual creations. All of these intangible assets, collectively referred to as intellectual property, can be protected by taking preventive measures such as trade mark or patent applications or by taking repressive action against imitations or unlawful uses of copyright creations.

Industrial property law also includes protection of the commercial activity as such e.g. in the sense of supplementary protection of creations under competition law. Pursuant to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Convention) any act of competition is prohibited, which is contrary to honest practices in industrial or commercial matters. Competition law devolves from this principle. In so doing, it is assumed that the market is able to regulate itself by allowing competitors and (consumer) associations to act themselves against acts of unfair competition of entrepreneurs, e.g. by issuing cautions based on competition law or requiring the offending party to issue a declaration to cease and desist on pain of penalty. For further information, please see Competition Law and Marketing Law.