European intellectual property law

Book abstract:

This text examines the impact of the economic principles of the European Community upon the legal regime for the protection of intellectual property rights within the Community and the laws of its Member States. This extensive area of law has been comprehensively affected by the impact of Europe, with a rapid speed of change. The general international movement to the reduction of barriers on a world scale has presented a problem for intellectual property. On the one hand there has been the need to protect intellectual property rights since these have been an essential ingredient adding the increase of goods and services to be traded. On the other hand there is the need to prevent these rights being used in anti-competitive ways. The European Community has been confronted with national rights which clearly restrict the creation of the competitive free trade area on which the economic and political union is based, and at a political level this book is an account of the way in which both the European Court and European Commission have met the challenge. However, it is fundamentally a law book, examining the legislation and cases relating to intellectual property law within the framework of European Community policy in this area.
Chapters cover: Intellectual property and the EU Treaty - the jurisprudence of the European Court; Intellectual property and the EC Treaty Licensing Agreements and the European competition rules; Trade marks; The EC and the reform of the law affecting design protection; The EC and the reform of patents; The EC and the reform of the law affecting copyright and neighbouring rights.