A general term which encompasses a number of legal actions that can be taken to deal with attempts of unlawful use of trademarks , patents, industrial designs, as well as cases of infringements and Unfair competitions.

Among these actions are:

• Notice of opposition: usually filed during the publication in the official gazettes against trademarks , patents or industrial designs, which are found similar or identical to those previously registered.
• Cancellation action: can be initiated against a registered trademark, patent or design which is proved to be registered on bad faith or contrary to the relative law in that country. Also a cancellation action can be filed based on non use if it is confirmed that the subject trademark is not used for a number of consecutive years ( usually between 3-5 years according to each country).
• Infringement and Unfair competition: such kind of cases are instituted before the concerned courts upon locating counterfeited products or goods bearing trademarks or trade dresses confusingly similar to well known marks .