Parallel imports occur when goods produced or sold abroad with the consent of the owner of the applicable intellectual property rights (IPR) - copyright, patent or trademark - are subsequently imported into the domestic market without the consent of the right owner.
A key EU competition law principle (Article 30 of the EEC Treaty) is free movement of goods within the EU single market. An exception allowed under Article 36 of the Treaty technically allows imports to be restricted on grounds of intellectual property rights. In reality such powers are very limited, as intellectual rights cannot be exercised if the intent or effect is to restrict trade between member states of the EU. This is of particular importance in parallel trade. Where, for instance, a licensor has granted a licence to a licensee in France, he generally cannot stop those goods being imported and sold into another Member State - the licensor is said to have exhausted his rights.