Intellectual property rights (IPR) protection should occupy an important place in the legal systems of countries around the world, being that intellectual property is the foundation of the development of the society, modern market and innovation. The rights granted to the IP holders are partially their award for enriching us with their ideas and creations. However, what good are the rights if they are not adequately protected when they are violated? In addition to the rights of individuals, infringement of intellectual property damages the public interest, as a result of which there is a need for criminal protection. Comparing with the other protection frameworks, such as civil law and administrative law protection, criminal law is specific in that it serves to punish, but also to suppress and prevent violations of intellectual property rights. This paper analyzes the criminal law protection that intellectual property enjoys in the Republic of Croatia and reviews the need for criminal law to intervene in the field of intellectual property. The Criminal Code of the Republic of Croatia from 2011. grouped criminal offenses against intellectual property into a separate Chapter XXVII., containing six different delicts, divided according to the form of IP that is violated, which are all punishable by imprisonment. Croatian criminal legislation incriminates only intentional, serious violations with economic implications, in the form of obtaining significant material gain or causing significant damage. The regulation of the legal entities of criminal offenses in the Republic of Croatia was greatly influenced by the EU and international legislation, such as Directive 2004/48/EC, TRIPS Agreement and criminal systems present in other European countries.