Is the European R&D equally protected from espionage as is the US R&D ? a note.

Abstract

Despite the huge economic value of the innovations, in European countries the yet unpatented results of the R&D activity can be stolen with little risk of criminal sanctions. By considering the anti-industrial espionage legislation in Europe, it turns out that no country has a law comparable to the US Economic Espionage Act. Moreover, the degree of protection of R&D from spies is very heterogeneous within the EU itself. This suggests a serious potential weakness of the European environment for ambitious R&D projects.