Recognized since its first edition as the preeminent work on its subject, this incomparable book thoroughly and expertly examines the intricacies of the provisions concerning trademarks and industrial designs enshrined in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement). It is organized as a paragraph-by-paragraph annotated text of the Agreement, with detailed commentary not only on the articles specifically dealing with industrial property but also on every clause in the agreement that could affect the protection of trademarks and/or designs. The fourth edition brings the author's prodigious analysis of case law, dispute settlements, ongoing scholarship and other pertinent developments fully up to date. With the authority and in-depth experience of a former long-time WIPO official with unparalleled knowledge of WTO Members' practices in implementing TRIPS provisions, Nuno Pires de Carvalho brings his practical insight and vast scholarship to such complex questions as the following: • What are signs that can constitute trademarks? Which elements assist in identifying a well-known mark? • What are the limitations on the protection of non visually perceptible marks like sounds, scents and tastes? • What lessons can we learn so far from the Dispute Settlement Mechanism? • What are WTO Members' obligations as regards marks that relate to goods and services that offend religious and moral values? Are they obliged to register and protect them? • How strict is the TRIPS Agreement as regards the use of industrial property in relation to public policies? Are private rights limitless? Are they enforceable no matter what? The recent worldwide phenomenon of measures involving the use of trademarks to pursue public health goals through plain packaging schemes is thoroughly analyzed and evaluated. Lawyers, judges, scholars and government officials will find a wealth of information and legal analysis in this new edition of that will help them identify new approaches and solutions to problems of trademark and design law posed by the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. With its combination of practically focused article-by-article commentary and scholarly analysis and insight, this edition will be an invaluable resource to all those who wish to understand industrial property at a deeper level.

In this brilliantly conceived and authoritative work the eminent intellectual property specialist Nuno Pires de Carvalho focuses on the mechanisms, obligations, and opportunities of trade secret protection under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). With the powerful knowledge base derived from his long experience both at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), he illuminates the crucial relationship of antitrust and industrial property, clearly demonstrating in contrast to much received wisdom the intrinsic pro-competitive nature of intellectual property and of industrial property in particular. Using an extraordinary wealth of practical detail, and offering hundreds of pointed hypothetical and actual examples, Pires de Carvalho dispels the murkiness around such essential concepts and provisions as the following: the inevitable interdependence of industrial property and antitrust law; abuses of patent rights and the vexed issue of patents and monopolies; the legal implications of international exhaustion under Article 6; the meaning of balance of rights and obligations under Article 7; divestiture and the fruits doctrine under Article 32; international cooperation in identifying antitrust violations in licensing agreements; protection of confidential information in court proceedings; protection of undisclosed test data against unfair commercial use under Article 39.3; and the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism in the context of undisclosed information. Of special value in this book is the author s far-reaching analysis of the controversial emerging field of test data protection in industrial property. The TRIPS Regime of Antitrust and Undisclosed Information provides a practical and insightful explanation of the meaning of the relevant TRIPS provisions, of how they should be reflected in national law and how courts are expected to enforce them. It combines an easy-to-follow article-by-article commentary on the TRIPS Agreement with a theoretical scholarly analysis that makes of it an invaluable resource to all those who wish to understand industrial property rights at a deeper level. Lawyers, judges, scholars and government officials will find an abundance of information and legal analysis here that will help them identify antitrust issues and solutions to problems of trade secrets posed by the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.

This preeminent work has proven the best practical commentary on the TRIPS agreement related to patents and test data. This fifth edition, in which the author has revised the whole text and updated various arguments, continues to articulate with unmatched clarity the specific steps that a government or a company must take, in a wide variety of possible contexts, to ensure that its patent-related obligations under TRIPS are met. The presentation is arranged in an article-by-article format, following the TRIPS Agreement itself as it relates to patents and test data. In this way, the author’s incisive analysis covers every issue likely to arise in today’s patent and test data administrative and legal practice, including the following: ·significance of the recent entry into force of Article 31bis; · developments in enforcement of patent rights in the context of competition law; · the potential effects of Brexit and the new protectionist inclination of US trade policy; · expanded commentary on trade secrets and test data under Article 39; · alternate ways to transpose TRIPS obligations into national law; and · standards of intellectual property protection as a bargaining chip in international trade. The TRIPS Agreement has a direct impact on the daily activities of corporations, governments, and consumers. This book contains a very practical explanation of the meaning of the patent-related TRIPS provisions, how they should be reflected in national law, and how courts are expected to enforce them. For these reasons and more, the Fifth Edition is a crucially important resource for patent and public health lawyers seeking compliance as well as for government officials charged with the implementation of TRIPS obligations.

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement), which constitutes Annex 1C of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO), is undoubtedly the most comprehensive international agreement on intellectual property protection ever established. This incomparable book, recognized since its first edition as the preeminent work on its subject, thoroughly and expertly examines the intricacies of the TRIPS provisions concerning trademarks and industrial designs.

Intellectual property rights, conventionally seen as quite distinct, are increasingly overlapping with one another. There are several reasons for this: the expansion of IPRs beyond their traditional borders, the creation of new IPRs especially at EU level, the exploitation of gaps in the law by shrewd lawyers, and the use of unfair competition as an alternative when IPRs are either not available at all or expired. The convergence of several IPRs on the same subject-matter poses problems. As they are normally envisaged as water-tight categories, there are very few rules which cater for the sort of regime clash that any overlap of IPRs necessarily entails. This book's aim is to find appropriate rules to regulate overlaps and thereby avoid regime conflicts and undue unstructured expansion of IPRs. The book studies the practical consequences of each overlap at the international, European and national levels (where the laws of France, the UK and Germany are reviewed). It then analyses the reasons for the prohibition or authorisation of overlaps. This analysis enables the determination of criteria and principles that can be used to (re)map the overlaps to achieve appropriateness and legitimacy.

This Commentary on the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) provides a detailed textual analysis of TRIPS _ a pivotal international agreement on intellectual property rights. TRIPS sets minimum standards

This book employs scholarly analysis to ground practical tools for applying the EU Trade Mark law (EUTM) functionality refusal grounds to address business needs when registering trade marks consisting of product characteristics. The study comprehensively examines the absolute grounds for a refusal of registration of functional signs under EUTM. It interprets the functionality refusal grounds through objective tests, focusing on the pro-competition rationale of denying trade mark exclusivity on product features that are technically or aesthetically important for competitors’ ability to trade in alternative products. The work takes a comparative approach looking at the US trade dress functionality doctrine, and a law and economics perspective on the role of trade marks and brands in the marketplace. It explores how competition rules related to market definition and the substitutability of products, as well as marketing and design findings related to branding and aesthetics, could be integrated into the legal assessment of EUTM functionality. The volume will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of Intellectual Property Law, Trade Mark and Design Law, EU Law, Comparative Law, and Branding.

This book presents a critical examination of the policy space in international intellectual property law through the unique lens of glocalisation. It further highlights the role that the WTO’s adjudicatory bodies play in preserving this space in international IP law.

The Law and Practice of Trademark Transactions is a comprehensive analysis of the law governing trademark transactions in a variety of legal and business contexts, and from a range of jurisdictional and cross-border perspectives. After mapping out the international legal framework applicable to trademark transactions, the book provides an analysis of important strategic considerations, including: tax strategies; valuation; portfolio splitting; registration of security interests; choice-of-law clauses; trademark coexistence agreements, and dispute resolution mechanisms. Key features include: • A comprehensive overview of legal and policy-related issues • A blend of approaches underpinning strategic considerations with analytical rigour • Regional coverage of the key characteristics of trademark transactions in a range of jurisdictions • Authorship from renowned trademark experts Practitioners advising trademark owners, including trademark attorneys, will find this book to be an invaluable resource for their practice, particularly where cross-border issues arise. It will also be a key reference point for scholars working in the field.

Is a State free to adopt measures to protect the public health of its citizens? If so, what are the limits, if any, to such regulatory powers? This book addresses these questions by focusing on the clash between the regulatory autonomy of the state and international investment governance. As a wide variety of state regulations allegedly aimed at protecting public health may interfere with foreign investments, a tension exists between the public health policies of the host state and investment treaty provisions. Under most investment treaties, States have waived their sovereign immunity, and have agreed to give arbitrators a comprehensive jurisdiction over what are essentially regulatory disputes. Some scholars and practitioners have expressed concern regarding the magnitude of decision-making power allocated to investment treaty tribunals. This book contributes to the current understanding of international investment law and arbitration, addressing the fundamental question of whether public health has and/or should have any relevance in contemporary international investment law and policy. With a focus on the ‘clash of cultures’ between international investment law and public health, the author critically analyses the emerging case law of investment treaty arbitration and considers the theoretical interplay between public health and investor rights in international investment law. The book also explores the interplay between investment law and public health in practice, focusing on specific sectors such as pharmaceutical patents, tobacco regulation and environmental health. It then goes on to analyze the available means for promoting consideration of public health in international investment law and suggests new methods and approaches to better reconcile public health and investor rights.