What is the exhaustion of intellectual property rights?
The issue of national exhaustion is relevant not only to importation rights but also to distribution rights. In principle, if the theory of the exhaustion of rights is not applied, the importation of a patented product (or parallel* importation) without the authorization of its patent owner is illegal. The monopoly conferred by the patent includes not only the exclusive right to manufacture and work the patented product, but also the exclusive right to import it, if the patent owner manufactures it, or has granted a licence to manufacture it, in another country. The exception to this general rule of prohibition is to be found in the principle of the exhaustion of rights. According to this principle, an intellectual property right is exhausted when a patented product is first put on the market with the consent of the patent holder. From the perspective of trade liberalization, it is considered that from the moment the product is marketed, the patent holder can no longer control its subs
