This book examines the risks to freedom of expression, particularly in relation to the internet, as a result of regulation introduced in response to terrorist threats. The work explores the challenges of maintaining security in the fight against traditional terrorism while protecting fundamental freedoms, particularly online freedom of expression. The topics discussed include the clash between freedom of speech and national security; the multijurisdictional nature of the internet and the implications for national sovereignty and transnational legal structures; how to determine legitimate and illegitimate association online; and the implications for privacy and data protection. The book presents a theoretical analysis combined with empirical research to demonstrate the difficulty of combatting internet use by terror organizations or individuals and the range of remedies that might be drawn from national and international law. The work will be essential reading for students, researchers and policy makers in the areas of Constitutional law; Criminal Law, European and International law, Information and Technology law and Security Studies.

Ideas are the fuel of industry and the entertainment business. Likewise, manufacturers receive suggestions for new products or improvements to existing products, and retailers frequently receive ideas for new marketing campaigns. Many ideas are not new and may be used by anyone without the risk of incurring any legal liability, but some ideas are novel and valuable. If the originator of a potentially useful idea does not have the financial resources to exploit the idea, he or she may submit it to another, with the expectation of receiving compensation if the idea is used. Although an extensive body of intellectual property law exists to protect the rights of inventors, authors, and businesses that own valuable brands or confidential proprietary information, raw ideas receive no protection. Nevertheless, the originator of a potentially useful and marketable idea is not without legal recourse. The courts have developed, through a long line of common law precedents, legal protection for novel and concrete ideas under certain circumstances. The originator of an idea can rely on contract law, whereby the recipient may expressly or impliedly agree to pay for the idea. Alternatively, if the idea is disclosed in confidence, its unauthorized use by the recipient allows the originator of the idea to recover compensation. Finally, some courts have treated the ownership of ideas as quasi-property rights.

This book explains China s intellectual property perspective in the context of European theories, through a critical examination of intellectual property theory and practice focused on China s compliance with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The author s critical review of contemporary intellectual property philosophy suggests that justifying intellectual property protection through Locke or Hegel s property theories internalizes a theoretical paradox.

Professor Wenwei Guan s treatment of intellectual property law and practice in the PRC offers new perspectives that enrich an already active field of study . . . This book will be a useful contribution to academic and policy discourses examining conceptual and operational dimensions of China s intellectual property protection system and the broader process of China s international engagement.

Dr. Pitman B. Potter, Professor of Law, University of British Columbia, Canada

Dr. Guan reminds us of the daunting challenge of the public-private divide in forming and reforming TRIPS regime; how this regime has failed to address development needs and public concerns in developing countries like China; and how TRIPS s birth defect can be overcome and its evolution can be put back on the right track.

Dr. Yahong Li, Associate Professor at Faculty of Law, Hong Kong University"

New innovations are created every day, but today's business leaders are focused on finding disruptive innovations which are cheaper and lower performing than upmarket technologies. They create new markets, and challenge the status quo of existing technological thinking creating uncertainty both in the future of the innovation and the outcome of the market upheaval. Disruptive innovation is an influential innovation theory in business, but how does it affect the law? Several of these technologies have brought new ways for individuals to deal with copyright works while disrupting existing market expectations, while their ability to spawn social norms has presented challenges for legislation. Considering disruptive innovation as a class, this book examines innovations that have impacted copyright in the past, what lessons can be learned from how the law interacted with them, and how the law can successfully deal with them going forward. Creating comprehensive guidance that can be used when faced with disruptive innovations with the aim of more successful legislation, it considers whether copyright law itself has been disrupted through these innovations. Exploring whether disruptive innovations as a class have unique properties that necessitate action by legislators and whether these properties have the possibility to disrupt the law itself, this book theorises how the law should deal with disruptive innovations in general, going beyond a discussion of the regulation of specific innovations to develop a framework for how law makers should deal with disruptive innovations when faced by one.

The papers in this volume represent some of the leading work on intellectual property. They address the question of how to create incentives to develop new technologies and how to protect those technologies once developed from theft. They also ask when valuable property might be developed even under weak ownership conditions. Other papers address how firms balance the tradeoffs in considering costly patent litigation and they examine the antitrust implications.
Although issues of intellectual property rights would seem to be ones of interest only to obscure groups of academics and lawyers, they have become topics of everyday discussion among the regular population. Alleged copyright infringements by people downloading music from the internet and accompanying threats of prosecution as well as charges of strategic patenting to harm competitors in recent high profile antitrust cases have placed intellectual property into public and political debate. The incentives provided by secure property rights for promoting research and development, investment, production, and exchange are well known. These are the major arguments for patents, copyrights and other forms of intellectual property.

Intellectual property issues in the film industry are often highly complex and in today's world are evolving rapidly. In this second edition of Film Copyright in the European Union, Pascal Kamina unravels the complexities of film protection in twenty-eight member states of the European Union, including thirteen new member states who have joined since the first edition. As well as addressing key aspects of film copyright, Pascal Kamina also deals with the protection of film works within the European Union in the context of European harmonisation of copyright laws. Including a new chapter on copyright enforcement, this second edition details the substantial developments in EU law during the last decade, including major cases for the European Court of Justice, new treaties and new directives. This book will interest practitioners, academics and students. The developments on contracts and moral rights will be of particular interest to lawyers outside continental Europe.

The Research Handbook on Cross-Border Enforcement of Intellectual Property systematically analyzes the unique difficulties posed by cross-border intellectual property disputes in the modern world. The contributions to this book focus on the enforcement of intellectual property primarily from a cross-border perspective. Infringement remains a problematic issue for emerging economies and so the book assesses some of the enforcement structures in a selection of these countries, as well as cross-border enforcement from a private international law perspective. Finally, the book offers a unique insight into the roles played by judges and arbitrators involved in cross-border intellectual property dispute resolution. Providing a comprehensive approach to cross-border enforcement, this Handbook will prove a valuable resource for academics, postgraduate students, practitioners and international policymakers. Contributors: E. Arezzo, S. Bariatti, M. Blakeney, A.F. Christie, T. Cook, P.A. De Miguel Asensio, F. Dessemontet, P. Ellis, V. Ferguson, C. Geiger, S. Hailing, N.H.B. H ng, T. Kono, M. Leaffer, T. Leepuangtham, S. Neumann, C.O.Garcia-Castrillon, M. Schneider, I. Stamatoudi, P. Torremans, O. Vrins, P.K.Yu

Drawing on interdisciplinary research methods from musicological and legal scholarship, this book maps the historical terrain of forensic musicology. It examines the contributions of musical expert witnesses, their analytical techniques, and the issues they encounter assisting courts in clarifying the blurred lines of music copyright.

'A historically grounded study on a cutting-edge topic, Intellectual Property and Climate Change has it all. Not only is it well-written, concise, and hugely informative, it is also a timely intervention addressing truly global challenges. Quite simply, a must-read.'- Eva Hemmungs Wirten, Uppsala University, Sweden 'Rimmer provides a much needed, well written, authoritative book on the intellectual property aspects of climate change, natural disasters, clean vehicles, and renewable energy. The book is essential reading for those wishing to better understand the complex patent issues involved with transitioning away from our current fossil-dominated economy to a more environmentally sustainable and equitable energy future.' - Benjamin K. Sovacool, National University of Singapore In the wake of the international summits in Copenhagen and Cancun, there is an urgent need to consider the role of intellectual property law in encouraging research, development, and diffusion of clean technologies to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.This book charts the patent landscapes and legal conflicts emerging in a range of fields of innovation - including renewable forms of energy, such as solar power, wind power, and geothermal energy; as well as biofuels, green chemistry, green vehicles, energy efficiency, and smart grids. As well as reviewing key international treaties, this book provides a detailed analysis of current trends in patent policy and administration in key nation states, and offers clear recommendations for law reform. It considers such options as technology transfer, compulsory licensing, public sector licensing, and patent pools; and analyzes the development of Climate Innovation Centres, the Eco-Patent Commons, and environmental prizes, such as the L-Prize, the H-Prize, and the X-Prizes. This book will have particular appeal to policy-makers given its focus upon recent legislative developments and reform proposals, as well as legal practitioners by developing a better understanding of recent legal, scientific, and business developments, and how they affect their practice. Innovators, scientists and researchers will also benefit from reading this book. Contents:PrefaceIntroduction:The Wizards of Menlo Park: Thomas Edison, General Electric Inc. and Ecomagination Part I: International Law 1. The Copenhagen Accord and the Cancun Agreements: Intellectual Property, Technology Transfer, and Climate Change2. The TRIPS Agreement: Intellectual Property, Climate Change, and Disaster Capitalism3. Energy Poverty: The World Intellectual Property Organization and The Development Agenda Part II: Patent Law 4. The Clean Technology Revolution: Patent Log-Jams and Fast-Tracks5. The Toyota Prius: Hybrid Cars, and Patent Trolls6. 'Clean Energy for America, Power Up America': Patent Law and Compulsory Licensing Part III: Innovation 7. Climate Innovation Centres: Patent Law and Public Sector Licensing8. The Eco-Patent Commons: Patent Pools, Clearing-Houses, and Open Innovation9. Environmental Prizes: The H-Prize, the L-Prize, and the X-Prize Conclusion: Intellectual Property and Climate Law BibliographyIndex

Intellectual Property at the Crossroads of Trade focuses on the elements of intellectual property that impact on trade and competition.The book comprises thoughtful contributions on varying commercial aspects of IP, from parallel imports of pharmaceuticals to exhaustion of rights, and from trade in goods of cultural heritage to regulation of goods in transit. There is detailed discussion of licensing, including cross-border elements, online licensing, and the potential for harmonization in Europe. This precedes a multi-layered analysis of the Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement. This stimulating collection of work will have strong appeal to academics and researchers interested in some of the most pressing issues in intellectual property law, as well as all those with an interest in the intersection of trade and IP. Contributors include: M. Barczewski, D. Beldiman, I. Calboli, J. de Werra, J. Drexl, C. Geiger, G. Mazziotti, C.R. McManis, J. Pelletier, I. Stamatoudi, S. Sykuna, P. Torremans, G. Westkamp

As the publishing, film and music industries are dominated by Big Media conglomerates, there is often recourse to simplistic ideological and conspiratorial readings of industry dynamics. Copyright, Creativity, Big Media and Cultural Value: Incorporating the Author explains why copyright is much more than a creator's private property right or a mechanism through which corporations control cultural production and influence mass consumption choices. The volume is grounded in extensive, painstakingly detailed and colourful original archival research into business histories of major successful artists including Conan Doyle, Hall Caine, Margaret Atwood, Dame Nellie Melba, Radiohead and Banksy, and the industries and genres that grew up around their activities. Chapters address big questions about how copyright generates income and how distributions of profits are allocated in the publishing, film and music industries. It includes discussion of the creation of new formats, the interplay between old media and new technologies, international copyright reform and cross-industry relations. Copyright, Creativity, Big Media and Cultural Value is a wide-ranging and important resource for students and practitioners of law and policy, media studies, cultural studies and literary history.

Patent Law in Greater China provides some of the most comprehensive, up-to-date and contextualized analyses of Chinese patent law. Featuring expert contributors with diverse backgrounds and deep inside knowledge, this edited volume strikes a good balance between scholarly analysis and practical tips. The book should be on the desk of everybody who handles patent-related matters in Greater China.' - Peter K. Yu, Drake University Law School, US'Chinese intellectual property law has been one of the fields in which it has been most difficult to obtain an accurate, reliable and intelligible perspective. The achievement in putting together Patent Law in Greater China is therefore all the more laudable. Chapters from practitioners, administrators, academics and the business world give this work a degree of relevance and immediacy and show how the complex and initially puzzling interplay of law and practice in China and the economies within her orbit can be depicted and understood.' - Jeremy Phillips, Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute, UK 'Drs Luginbuhl and Ganea have put together an impressive and thorough survey of patent law in the PRC, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The book covers policy making aspects, patentability requirements (with specific chapters on biotechnological, chemical, pharmaceutical and software-related inventions ), rights and exceptions, employee inventions, rights in designs and utility models, but also patent prosecution (domestic and PCT), infringement, and the interface with competition law. This timely book will be useful for both practitioners and scholars.' - Daniel Gervais, Vanderbilt University Law School and Editor in Chief, Journal of World Intellectual Property This book provides a comprehensive introduction to patent policy, law and practice in Greater China and will be a go-to book for patent practitioners who have client interests in that region. Features: - Introduction to Chinese patent policy. - Detailed coverage of technology transfer and substantive patent law in China, including prerequisites for protection, exceptions and limitations. - Practical analysis of patent law relating to 3 specific fields of invention: employee inventions, biotechnological and pharmaceutical inventions, and software inventions. - Overview of the patent application and examination procedure, with a particular view on PCT applications. - Insight into specific characteristics of enforcement mechanisms and jurisprudence in China, including the dual enforcement system, claim interpretation, infringement types, and invalidity procedures. - Invaluable section on the relationship between patent and antitrust law, including practical realities in the sphere of anticompetitive licensing. - Overviews of the patent systems of Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR - Edited by two leading patent experts, and written by a team of experienced practitioners from China and from Europe, offering insight rarely brought together in a single place. This book will be an indispensable reference work for lawyers, patent attorneys and other practitioners interested in learning whether and how to protect patents in China. Contributors: C. Bailey, Y. Bu, J. Cao, W. Chen, D. Clark, G. Cui, C. Czychowski, M. Deng, P. Ganea, H. Goddar, N. Heide, S.-H. Lee, J. Li, Y. Li, K.-C. Liu, S. Luginbuehl, Q. Ma, T. Mak, J.B. Nordemann, T. Pattloch, O. Pfaffenzeller, B. Roth, C.D. Simoes, L. Wang, B. Weibel

As companies and organisations increasingly operate across national boundaries, so the incentive to understand how to acquire, deploy and protect IP rights in multiple national jurisdictions has rapidly increased. Transnational Intellectual Property Law meets the need for a book that introduces contemporary intellectual property as it is practiced in today?s global context. Focusing on three major IP regimes - the United States, Europe and China - the unique transnational approach of this textbook will help law students and lawyers across the world understand not only how IP operates in different national contexts, but also how to coordinate IP protection across numerous national jurisdictions. International IP treaties are also covered, but in the context of an overall emphasis on transnational coordination of legal rights and strategies. Providing detailed thematic coverage of the major IP rights, including Patents, Copyright, Trademarks, Trade Secrets and Design Protection, the book delves into the national laws and operational realities of these three jurisdictions, highlighting the issues and questions that are most frequently encountered in practice. Of special note are the many English translations of Chinese legal materials = providing the richest and most in-depth coverage of authoritative IP-related statutes, cases and commentaries currently available to students. The textbook draws heavily on cases and other primary sources to tease out the differences, commonalities, and ultimately, strategies for taking a global approach to IP protection. Thought-provoking questions and scenarios throughout the book will stimulate class discussion and cement understanding. Key features: Introductory problems allow students to identify and navigate the key issues An accessible layout with case extracts, questions and notes clearly highlighted illustrates examples of crucial issues, helps identify key information, and points to extensive practical and scholarly commentary on important issues? Comparative approach with numerous references to law and business context in China, the United States and Europe allows students to place national IP in a global context Expert analytical commentary on carefully selected cases guides readers on the key issues. Engaging and comprehensive, this textbook will be essential for all IP courses that aspire to teach the global dimension of IP, and for all students whose aim is to practice IP in what is an increasingly transnational marketplace.

This essential desk reference for patent attorneys, engineers, entrepreneurs, innovators, development professionals, and students has been updated with the latest court cases and legislation. In a world in which businesses thrive on innovation, it is more important than ever to understand the sometimes arcane rules through which human ingenuity becomes intellectual property. Although many reference works on patent law exist, they are written for specialists. Through clear writing, specific examples, and focus on the fundamentals, Patent Law Essentials: A Concise Guide makes the basic rules of patent law accessible to businesspeople, engineers, students, and others who need to understand the rules of a notoriously complicated game. Patent Law Essentials begins with an overview of patent law and other aspects of intellectual property and then guides the reader through an example of an actual patent-one literally claiming "a better mousetrap." The chapters that follow discuss the types of inventions that can be patented (recently a subject of much dispute), the process of applying for a patent, the requirements of a valid patent, and the procedures for determining if a patent has been infringed upon. The appendix includes several examples of actual U.S. patents, including the mousetrap patent discussed in detail in the early chapters. Makes patent law accessible to both novice and expert practitioners Discusses a number of recent landmark Supreme Court decisions, including Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank (2014), discussing when software-implemented business methods are unpatentable as abstract ideas; Commil v. Cisco Systems (2015), on the intent required to induce infringement; and Samsung Electronics v. Apple (2016), addressing the award of the infringer's profits from infringement of a design patent Contains sample utility and design patents for reference Walks readers through the many parts of a patent

On the heels of his earlier work Medical Patent Law - The Challenges of Medical Treatment, Ventose makes another significant contribution to the literature. In his earlier work, he devoted a chapter to medical patents under US law. In Patenting Medical and Genetic Diagnostic Methods he expands that chapter into an entire text. No easy feat, to be sure. Nonetheless, his 'treatment' of the jurisprudential terrain is sophisticated and rigorous. Scholars, practitioners and students seriously interested in the evolution of medical patents under US law will find Ventose's latest work to be invaluable.' - Emir Crowne, University of Windsor, Canada, Law Society of Upper Canada and Harold G. Fox Intellectual Property Moot'This work provides a timely exploration of patent battles over biotechnology, medicine, diagnostic testing, and pharmacogenomics. Such conflicts are critically important at the dawn of a new era of personalised medicine.' - Matthew Rimmer, The Australian National University College of Law and ACIPA, Australia 'The debate on the patent eligibility of diagnostic and medical methods has raged recently in the United States and there seemed to be far less certainty about the outcome than in Europe. Gene patents for diagnostic methods clearly stirred the debate, but this is not a new debate. It goes back a century. This book gets to the bottom of the debate and provides an in depth insight, both of the history and of the recent developments. A fascinating tale.' - Paul Torremans, University of Nottingham, UK This well-researched book explores in detail the issue of patenting medical and genetic diagnostic methods in the United States. It examines decisions of the Patent Office Boards of Appeal and the early courts on the question of whether medical treatments were eligible for patent protection under section 101 of the Patents Act. It then traces the legislative history of the Medical Procedures and Affordability Act that provided immunity for physicians from patent infringement suits. After considering the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on patent eligibility, the book then comprehensively sets out how the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court have dealt with the issue, paying close attention to the Supreme Court's recent decision in Bilski and Prometheus. Being the first book to comprehensively cover patenting medical methods, it will appeal to patent agents, patent attorneys, solicitors and barristers working in patent and medical law worldwide, medical practitioners and healthcare professionals, in-house legal and regulatory departments of pharmaceutical companies. Researchers and managers in the chemical, medical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, as well as academics specializing in medical law or patent law, will also find much to interest them in this book. Contents: Preface 1. Introduction 2. Initial Determination 3. Legislative Intervention 4. Patent-Eligibility 5. Consideration by the Federal Circuit 6. Consideration by the Supreme Court 7. Conclusions Bibliography Index

Intellectual Property Issues in Nanotechnology focuses on the integrated approach for sustained innovation in various areas of nanotechnology. The theme of this book draws to a great extent on the industrial and socio-legal implications of intellectual property rights for nanotechnology-based advances. The book takes a comprehensive look not only at the role of intellectual property rights in omics-based research but also at the ethical and intellectual standards and how these can be developed for sustained innovation. This book attempts to collate and organize information on current attitudes and policies in several emerging areas of nanotechnology. Adopting a unique approach, this book integrates science and business for an inside view of the industry. Peering behind the scenes, it provides a thorough analysis of the foundations of the present day industry for students and professionals alike.

This book radically rethinks the philosophical basis of copyright in the arts. The author reflects on the ontology of art to argue that current copyright laws cannot be justified. The book begins by identifying two problems that result from current copyright laws: (1) creativity is restricted and (2) they primarily serve the interests of large corporations over those of the artists and general public. Against this background, the author presents an account of the ontology of artworks and explains what metaphysics can tell us about ownership in the arts. Next, he makes a moral argument that copyright terms should be shorter and that corporations should not own copyrights. The remaining chapters tackle questions regarding the appropriation of tokens of artworks, pattern types, and artistic elements. The result is a sweeping reinterpretation of copyright in the arts that rests on sound ontological and moral foundations. Radically Rethinking Copyright in the Arts will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in aesthetics and philosophy of art, metaphysics, philosophy of law, and intellectual property law.

This book discusses the problems of applicable law in international copyright infringement cases and examines the solutions proposed to them in the recent projects by the American Law Institute (ALI) and the European Max Planck Group for Conflict of Laws and Intellectual Property (CLIP). In particular, the book analyzes how the territoriality principle and the lex loci protectionis rule are applied in traditional, broadcasting and online cases in selected European and US jurisdictions. It then evaluates whether the rules on ubiquitous infringement, de minimis, initial ownership and party autonomy, as proposed by ALI and CLIP, address the identified problems. This detailed and thorough study will appeal to academics, researchers, postgraduate and doctorate students, as well as to EU and international policy makers in the field of intellectual property and international private law. Contents: Preface 1. Introduction General Part: Status Quo 2. Main Rules 3. Evaluation and Alternatives Specific Part: ALI and CLIP Proposals 4. Introduction to the ALI and CLIP Proposals 5. Lex Loci Protectionis and the Territoriality Principle 6. De Minimis Rule 7. Ubiquitous Infringements Rule 8. Initial Ownership 9. Party Autonomy 10. Conclusions Bibliography Index

America loves innovation and the can-do spirit that made this country what it is-a world leader in self-government, industry, technology, and pop culture. Everything about America has been an experiment and a leap of faith. And one such experiment-upon which all others depend for success-is the U.S. Patent System. Why Has America Stopped Inventing? takes a close look at why this experiment appears to be failing, and why America has all but stopped inventing. Our belief that we are the most innovative people on earth is mistaken. Statistics show that today we invent less than half of what our counterparts did a century and a half ago. Look around: Where are the groundbreaking inventions comparable to those from the Industrial Revolution? It's unforgivable that we've been using the same mode of transportation for over a century. Why are we giving trillions of dollars every year to hostile foreign nations for imported oil when we have the inventive talent in America to solve the nation's energy crisis? We don't have these desperately needed technologies because regular Americans have given up on inventing. Why Has America Stopped Inventing? compares some of America's most successful 19th century inventors with those of today, showing Jefferson refusing to waste any more weekends examining patent applications, Whitney being robbed of his fortune while the South's wealth exploded, the patent models that kept British soldiers from burning Washington's last-standing federal building, the formation of Lincoln's cabinet, and Selden crippling the entire U.S. Auto Industry. It also tells the largely unforgotten stories of the Wright brother's airplane monopoly, the Colt revolver's role in the Mexican American War, the Sewing Machine wars, the last six months of Daniel Webster's life, and the controversy surrounding the first telephone patents.

The Supreme Court of the United States in Feist v. Rural (1991) required that databases must have a minimal degree of creativity for copyright. The judgment was highly significant and the subsequent period is understood as the post-Feist era. It has been globally influential. However, the decision is extremely complex and remains unsatisfactorily interpreted. In particular, it has been impossible to illuminate the creativity requirement. The book gives an account of the decision's conceptual structure, focusing on its full delineation of the opposite to creativity. In a radical and unprecedented innovation, it is correlated with an automatic computational process. Creativity itself is understood as non-computational or directly human activity concerned with meaning. Determining the presence of creativity is reduced to a four-stage test. This work then has acute practical current relevance to property in data in the digital age; it will also be of theoretical interest to, and is aimed at, researchers in, practitioners, and students of intellectual property worldwide.

Abbe Brown's new work provides a welcome and extremely valuable addition of the human rights dimension to the long standing conflict over essential technologies between intellectual property and competition law.' - Steven Anderman, University of Essex, UK and University of Stockholm, Sweden'Much has been written on the flexibilities available within the intellectual property system to address development and social needs. This book goes a step further: it explores how greater access to essential technologies can be ensured through human rights and competition law. Although the analysis is focused on UK and the European Union, the book provides valuable insights for assessing the situation in other jurisdictions. The author suggests an innovative approach for courts and legislators to overcome, in the light of public interest considerations, the limits imposed by intellectual property rights. This book is a much welcomed contribution to academic and policy debates on the subject.' - Carlos M. Correa, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina 'Intellectual property interacts (or clashes?) with human rights and competition law. The refreshing bit about this book is that a detailed practical approach to the inevitable balancing act is proposed. Abbe Brown explains how a human rights approach is the cornerstone of such a balancing approach and how positive results can be achieved towards unblocking essential technologies. And it can be done in the existing international legal framework, even if the latter could be improved. Well-researched, challenging and interesting reading!' - Paul Torremans, University of Nottingham, UK 'Abbe Brown's study starts from the assumption that IP right owners, particularly those of innovative technologies, dispose of a disproportionately strong legal position in relation to that of competitors and customers, which is detrimental to society at large. Brown investigates how the power of the IP right owners can be limited by applying existing human rights law and competition law. To that aim it is suggested to widen the legal landscape and to develop a more tripartite substantive approach to IP law, human rights law and competition law. Brown's study offers a very welcome new contribution to the literature on the functioning of IP law, by stressing the joint role which competition law and human rights law can play in this respect.' - F. Willem Grosheide, Utrecht University and Attorney at law, Van Doorne Amsterdam, The Netherlands This detailed book explores the relationship between intellectual property, competition and human rights. It considers the extent to which they can and must be combined by decision makers, and how this approach can foster innovation in key areas for society such as pharmaceutical drugs, communications software and technology to combat climate change. The author argues that these three legal fields are strongly interrelated and that they can be used to identify essential technologies. She demonstrates that in some cases, combining the fields can deliver new bases for wider access to be provided to technologies. The solutions developed are strongly based on existing laws, with a focus on the UK and the EU and the structures of existing forms of dispute resolution, including the European Court of Human Rights and the dispute settlement bodies of the World Trade Organization. The final chapters also suggest opportunities for further engagement at international policy and activist level, new approaches to IP and its treaties, and wider adoption of the proposals. This timely book will appeal to academics and practitioners in IP, competition and human rights, as well as innovation-related industry groups and access to knowledge, health and environment activists.

Patents, including pharmaceutical patents, enjoy extended protection for twenty years under the TRIPs Agreement. The Agreement has resulted in creating a two-tier system of the World Trade Organisation Member States, and its implementation has seen the price of pharmaceutical products skyrocket, putting essential medicines beyond the reach of the common man. The hardest hit populations come from the developing and least developed countries, which have either a weak healthcare system or no healthcare at all, where access to essential and affordable medicines is extremely difficult to achieve. Pharmaceutical Patent Protection and World Trade Law studies the problems faced by these countries in obtaining access to affordable medicines for their citizens in light of the TRIPS Agreement. It explores the opportunities that are still open for some developing countries to utilise the flexibilities available under the TRIPS Agreement in order to mitigate the damage caused by it. The book also examines the interrelationship between the world governing bodies, and the right to health contained in some of the developing country's national constitutions.

Debates about Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) have moved on in recent years. An initial focus on the legal obligations established by international agreements like the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and the form of obligations for collecting physical biological materials have now moved to a far more complex series of disputes and challenges about the ways ABS should be implemented and enforced: repatriation of resources, technology transfer, traditional knowledge and cultural expressions; open access to information and knowledge, naming conventions, farmers' rights, new schemes for accessing pandemic viruses and sharing DNA sequences, and so on. Unfortunately, most of this debate is now crystallised into apparently intractable discussions such as implementing the certificates of origin, recognising traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expression as a form of intellectual property, and sovereignty for Indigenous peoples. Not everything in this new marketplace of ABS has been created de novo. Like most new entrants, ABS has disrupted existing legal and governance arrangements. This collection of chapters examines what is new, what has been changed, and what might be changed in response to the growing acceptance and prevalence of ABS of genetic resources. Biodiversity, Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property: Developments in Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources addresses current issues arising from recent developments in the enduring and topical debates about managing genetic resources through the ABS regime. The book explores key historical, doctrinal, and theoretical issues in the field, at the same time developing new ideas and perspectives around ABS. It shows the latest state of knowledge and will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students in the fields of intellectual property, governance, biodiversity and conservation, sustainable development, and agriculture.