The U.S. has a set of laws and regulations imposing sanctions against particular countries, entities and individuals for a variety of reasons. Collectively, these are known as the U.S. Sanctions Program, managed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. A sanction prohibits U.S. nationals and companies from doing business with those countries or entities that are subject to a sanction. Penalties for violating them range from criminal fines to imprisonment, according to The National Law Review.

However, it is important to know that the current U.S. Sanctions Program does allow intellectual property owners to file applications for patents, trademarks, copyrights and so on in countries that are under sanction, The National Law Review said. It is also generally lawful for intellectual property holders to receive said protection, and to review it as necessary. Infringement lawsuits are usually permitted, as is the payment of any intellectual property fees to the government as well as to attorneys and representatives in a sanctioned country, according to the publication. Presently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control allows some degree of intellectual property protection activity in all sanctioned countries but North Korea, which intellectual property owners must obtain a Specific License to undertake any kind of activity in.