Intellectual property rights have a number of common basic features, which can be summarized as follows:

    •intangible nature. As ‘creations or realizations of the mind’, intellectual property rights are intangible in nature, such as literary or scientific works, paintings, logos, etc.;

    •nature of the works that are protected. Not all creations of the mind can be protected by an intellectual property right. Generally speaking, only such works as go beyond the mundane or that which is already known are eligible for such protection. This condition is translated in open legal definitions and criteria such as originality of a work protected by copyright, the novelty of an invention in patent law and, to a certain degree, the ability of a trademark to distinguish products or services of an undertaking from the products and services of another undertaking;

    •intellectual property rights are exclusive rights. Similar to, for instance, real property, intellectual property rights are by definition both rights of exclusivity and, as a direct corollary thereto, rights of prohibition (see below): the holder of an intellectual property right in principle has the exclusive right to exploit and commercialize his creation and, consequently, to restrain third parties that do not have his permission from doing so;

    •assignment and grant of licenses. Intellectual property rights are considered to be assets that may be assigned and can also be licensed. A license implies that the holder of such intangible assets can grant a right (on an exclusive or any other basis) to one or more identified third parties to commercially exploit said assets, for instance by manufacturing a certain product using an invention that has been patented by a third party;

    •rights of prohibition. Where a third party uses an intellectual property right without the permission of the holder of the right, the holder can, under certain circumstances, take action against such use;

    •territoriality. Although supra- and international legislation underlies the protection of intellectual property rights, in principle it is mainly to the national implementation of these principles that one must look in order to gain insight into the conditions and duration of the protection that is offered and for the procedures that required to be followed . This nationalization process has the important consequence that intellectual property rights are in principle conferred on a national basis and – consequently – can only enjoy protection within that territory.

In order to achieve common standards and simplify administrative formalities when seeking intellectual property protection abroad, a number of treaties have been concluded at an international level. The most important treaties in this context are the Patent Cooperation Treaty, or ‘PCT’, of 19 June 1970 and the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Protocol thereto.

Also worthy of note is the twin-track policy of the European Union with regard to the protection of intellectual property rights within the internal market. In this framework, in the first instance, a movement has come into being that is trying to harmonize the various national laws on intellectual property in the various Member States, with the aim of avoiding hindering the functioning of the internal market: this is being done on the basis of a number of Directives. Second, with the help of Regulations, a new Community legislative basis is being created for true ‘European’ intellectual property rights – in other words, for intellectual property rights that are valid for the whole territory of the Union.