In summary, the current position is that IP rights owners are
not prohibited from protecting and enforcing their IP rights in
Iran and Syria, under the existing EU and US sanctions.
However, difficulties remain and businesses should ensure that
any company or individual with which they conduct business in Iran
and Syria (including licensees, distributors, customers and
professional advisors) are not listed on the designated persons
registers maintained by the national governments in the EU and by
the US government.
IP rights owners with a presence in the EU or the US, or with
employees who are nationals from the EU or the US, will be required
to comply with all applicable sanctions. It is therefore important
that businesses with interests in sanctioned countries conduct
regular assessments in order to avoid a breach of EU or US
sanctions and the serious penalties that would then apply.
