Intellectual Property And Private International Law

The relationship between intellectual property and private international law is a fascinating and multi-faceted one. Both fields are inherently international, but it is the exponential increase in conflicts involving trans-border elements, in a world characterized by global trade and borderless communication structures, that has, in modern times, drawn the two disciplines close. The essays contained in this book, first presented at a symposium in Munich, set out possible visions for a future system of international and regional jurisdiction and applicable law that is better adapted to the increasingly supranational character of IP rights. A second feature of the book is its treatment of a??harmonizationa?? of choice-of-law issues. Framed by these two elements a?? international jurisdiction on the one hand and perspectives for harmonized choice of law rules in an international context on the other a?? specific European themes are also addressed: jurisdiction, the establishment of a European judiciary in the patent field, the relationship between regional (European) systems and an international jurisdiction convention, and the recent proposal for a Regulation on applicable law in non-contractual relationships (Rome II).