Counterfeit Goods and Organised Crime is an in-depth inquiry into the fake goods trade and the involvement of organised crime groups. In this seminal work, Michael Blakeney comprehensively analyses the impact of counterfeiting on the principal industries affected by it. It looks at international, national and regional counterfeit legislation, organised crime groups and counterfeiting customs control. Through an interdisciplinary analysis, Professor Blakeney assesses the size of the counterfeit goods trade, its drivers, and its impact on commerce, public order and health. The book includes a broad range of case studies focusing on the areas most affected by the counterfeit trade: medicines and pharmaceuticals; food, wines and spirits; luxury goods; vehicle and aircraft parts; and herbicides, fertilisers and pesticides. As counterfeiting is driven by the search for profits, Professor Blakeney argues for disincentivising organised crime groups via the legal confiscation of the proceeds of crime. This innovative book’s examination of the trade in international counterfeit products will interest scholars, practitioners and policy-makers in the fields of trademark law, customs and trade law, and crime and corruption studies. It will also be invaluable for regulators and compliance personnel, legal practitioners and industry representatives.

This timely book provides a comprehensive survey of recent development in intellectual property (IP) law within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, written by experienced scholars and practitioners in the field. Divided into three insightful parts, the book looks into recent IP developments in individual countries, examining the relationship of ASEAN as a group with the wider region in IP matters, as well as providing comparative studies of copyright infringements, IP in agriculture, IP enforcement, and pharmaceutical patenting in the ASEAN countries. Chapters investigate further pressing topics such as IP related to the innovation economy, covering all countries of ASEAN, recently concluded bi- and multilateral agreements and ASEAN IP negotiations with China and other trading partners. Providing regional and international analysis of ASEAN IP law across multiple sectors, this book will prove a valuable resource for IP practitioners, legal academics and law students concerned with Asian IP law and innovation. Students interested in the intersection between IP law, economy and society, from disciplines such as economics, business and political science, will also benefit from this detailed read.

This three-volume collection comprises a selection of research articles and papers on geographical indications by the leading academics in this field. The collection examines the functions and economic underpinnings of this form of product designation, together with the various forms of legal protection of geographical indications, both national and international. It contains a number of contributions that examine the potential impacts of geographical indications in developing countries, which explore this form of marketing through case studies. With an original introduction by the editor Michael Blakeney, these volumes are an excellent reference for scholars and researchers in this field.

The TRIPS Agreement (for trade-related intellectual property rights) provides for the general protection of geographical indications (GIs) of product origin, including for example the special protection of wines and spirits and for the creation of a multilateral register for wines. The African Group of countries has been in the forefront of countries agitating in the World Trade Organization TRIPS Council for the extension of this special protection and of the multilateral register to industries which are of interest to developing countries, primarily agriculture. The so-called "extension question" is the central feature of the Doha Development Agenda at both the WTO and World Intellectual Property Organization. This book provides some empirical evidence and applied legal and economic reasoning to this debate. It provides both a general review of the key issues and a series of case studies from six Anglophone and four Francophone countries in Africa. These focus on major agricultural commodities such as coffee, cotton, cocoa and tea, as well as more specific and local products such as Argan oil and Oku white honey.

Global food insecurity is a growing issue. At a time when the world's population is increasing and agricultural production is challenged by climate change, it is estimated that around a third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted. This book examines the problem of food loss and waste (FLW) and the policies that could be enacted to remedy this fundamental global concern. Michael Blakeney provides a well-rounded view of FLW from production to plate. He begins by examining the problems associated with defining and measuring food waste, arguing that more reliable data on FLW is key to the creation of effective FLW reduction policies. He goes on to address the drivers of FLW, the environmental impacts of FLW and the moral and ethical considerations that are linked to the issue. Food Loss and Waste concludes with a critical assessment of FLW reduction strategies across the food supply chain. Providing the first comprehensive assessment of FLW and its remedies, this book will be of great interest to scholars working in the fields of food security, agricultural law and policy and rural economics. Policy makers involved in food policy and security will also find this a valuable resource as it identifies and analyses FLW policies on an international scale.

The TRIPS Agreement (for trade-related intellectual property rights) provides for the general protection of geographical indications (GIs) of product origin, including for example the special protection of wines and spirits and for the creation of a multilateral register for wines. The African Group of countries has been in the forefront of countries agitating in the World Trade Organization TRIPS Council for the extension of this special protection and of the multilateral register to industries which are of interest to developing countries, primarily agriculture. The so-called "extension question" is the central feature of the Doha Development Agenda at both the WTO and World Intellectual Property Organization. This book provides some empirical evidence and applied legal and economic reasoning to this debate. It provides both a general review of the key issues and a series of case studies from six Anglophone and four Francophone countries in Africa. These focus on major agricultural commodities such as coffee, cotton, cocoa and tea, as well as more specific and local products such as Argan oil and Oku white honey.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) play an important role in the struggle for food security and encouraging agricultural research and development. This book examines these roles as well as the international relationship between IPRs, agricultural biotechnology, access to biological resources, food security and globalization, paying particular attention to proposals for the protection of Farmers' Rights, traditional knowledge, GM crops and the impact of competition laws. It proposes a number of recommendations for action in deploying IPRs in order to reach greater food security globally.