Journal of World Intellectual Property最新文献

In this paper, a complex interplay is demonstrated, indicating that the impact of intellectual property rights (IPR) and patent protection varies in certain trade contexts. We review the IPR and patent laws in Oman and subsequent amendments following the signing of free trade agreements and investigate how strong protection of patents and IPRs affects Oman's trade. A panel data set comprising the majority of Oman's trading partners from 2000 to 2021 was utilized to achieve this objective. Under the Oman Intellectual Property (IP) Laws, 5617 patent applications were used to calculate the patent index scores. This study contributes four significant findings. First, it analyzes how strong IP and patent protection affect Oman's exports and imports. Second, it assesses the variation in overall trade flows and manufacturing trade flows. Third, while most studies use the IPR index, this study offers a more specific perspective by examining the patent index, particularly concerning manufacturing trade, which is primarily associated with patent-protected technologies. Fourth, this study provides the first comprehensive analysis of a GCC country that is heavily dependent on oil. This study reveals that Oman's strong IPR and patent regimes significantly enhance overall exports. Strong patent protection promotes the import of high-tech goods, whereas robust IPR protection unexpectedly reduces manufacturing trade.

Through this paper the authors intend to establish a connect between religion and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) particularly how various religions have justified IPRs and analyze whether religion can prove to be the much-needed enforcement tool to fight infringement of IPRs. Intellectual Property is a domain which is governed purely by creativity and technology and has traditionally been justified by utilitarianism. However, the evidence we are in possession of does not entirely justify the rationale of exclusive rights granted under the current IPR regime. While questioning the contradictory evidence seems as a logical move, instead scholars are turning to nonindustrial faith-based arguments which justify intellectual property as a moral end in itself. A growing number of academics are choosing to devote at least a portion of their research to examining how religious thought can influence approaches to difficult intellectual property questions because they find the religious texts to be a rich source of inspiration on both temporal and eternal issues. A major obstacle in the enforcement of IPR is that people are not entirely convinced that infringing IPR is unethical. This enforcement challenge, surprisingly in the presence of legislations, may be tackled by informal institutions such as religious commitments.

The European Union's (EU's) Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), published on 12 July 2024, seeks to establish a consistent legal framework for AI systems within the EU, promoting trustworthy and human-centric AI while safeguarding various fundamental rights. The Act classifies AI applications into three risk categories: unacceptable risk, high risk, general purpose AI models with systemic risk and low or no risk, each with corresponding regulatory measures. Although initially not focused on copyright issues, the rise of generative AI led to specific provisions addressing general purpose AI models. These provisions include transparency obligations, particularly regarding the technical documentation and content used for training AI models, and policies to respect EU copyright laws. The Act aims to balance the interests of copyright holders and AI developers, ensuring compliance while fostering innovation and protecting rights.

Web scraping is a technique that allows the extraction of online information and data to train Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) systems. Although the use of deep learning algorithms to produce user-requested outputs (texts, images, music and code) based on models learned from vast data sets dates back a few decades, its use has become fundamental with the recent development of GenAI and has been accompanied by the emergence of the first legal disputes. Doctrine and jurisprudence are called upon to consider the legal consequences arising from the combination of web scraping and GenAI, often encountering inadequate and fragmented legislation. Laws and regulations vary significantly across different countries and regions, reflecting diverse priorities and legal approaches. However, while doctrine, regardless of the latitudes, agrees in condemning the illicit acts and abuses due not so much to the extraction method but to the use of the extracted data (where protected by intellectual property rights), jurisprudence (particularly in Europe and North America) has already had the opportunity to express divergent opinions in some leading cases.

In this era of global trade and digital communication, where geographical borders between states have become virtually redundant, the ‘aura’ of well-known trademarks easily transgresses national borders. As an upshot of this, the reputation and goodwill attached to well-known trademarks have become less and less commensurate with the territorial boundaries of individual states. This raises the question of whether strict adherence to the bedrock principle of ‘territoriality’ is both apt and justifiable in the backdrop of modern commerce—not only from a trademark holder's perspective but also from a consumer-centric viewpoint. Although the judicially crafted concept of ‘trans-border reputation’ is often hailed as a promising solution to this problem; sometimes it postulates a too-liberal approach to protecting the interests of the foreign trademark owners. Most significantly, the concern has been raised that the application of an unbridled doctrine of ‘trans-border reputation’ may unduly thwart the interests of local entrepreneurs. Thus, the argument that the ‘priority of innocent use’ by a local trader should not be superseded by the trans-border reputation of a foreign well-known trademark cannot be easily ignored. This paper aims to critically evaluate the application of the trans-border reputation concept within the Indian and Sri Lankan legal landscapes, discussing in detail the implications of the landmark cases determined by the Indian and Sri Lankan judiciaries. Most importantly, it seeks to introduce a mechanism for minimizing prejudice to the bona fide domestic users of marks, by employing ‘bad faith’ as a balancing tool.

For two decades, commentators have argued for law and policy reform to incentivise organisations to develop new indications for (already) authorised drugs, an area of drug development known as ‘repositioning’. In short, they argue that hurdles in patent and pharmaceutical law hinder repositioning and, therefore, reform is required to increase its use. Yet, these arguments are made primarily on anecdotes; the empirical evidence is scant. One foundational question is how many drugs are repositioned each year in Europe. This study develops a method to examine the number authorised each year. The results show a marked increase in repositioning over the last 3 years, and that the number per year is comparable, though slightly fewer than, the number of new compounds, indicating modest to higher-than-expected activity. This study considers what the results mean for four suggested reform options, including the EU Commission's recent proposal. We conclude that the reforms may not achieve their goals or that further evidence is required before we can know whether they will be effective. Lastly, this paper explains how the method and data in this study could serve as a benchmark for evaluating the success of future reforms.

The Supreme Court of India, in the recent case of Knit Pro International v. State of NCT of Delhi, clarified that the offence under S. 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957 is cognizable and nonbailable. This decision is likely to have far-reaching consequences in the field of copyright enforcement. This article is meant to examine the current state of criminal enforcement of Copyright in India, its interface with freedom of speech and expression and the likely impact of the said judgement on copyright enforcement in India. The article starts with an overview of criminal remedies under the Copyright Act, 1957 and the criminal procedure applicable to those remedies. It then analyses the provisions in light of five factors which are considered crucial in criminalizing an offence—seriousness, proportionality, legal soundness, enforceability and alternative remedies. The article concludes that the current regime for criminal enforcement of copyright leans heavily in favour of enforcers and requires a change to ensure a balance between copyright and the right to freedom of speech and expression.

This study aims to assess the prospects and constraints of blockchain technology (BCT) for intellectual property management (IPM). It uses a qualitative method using existing literature related to BCT and IPM. Findings suggest that BCT has huge potential to transform IPM using BCT. The BCT can provide better transparency, security, and efficiency. BCT can be useful for increased transparency, trust, better licensing management, collaboration, innovation, and digital rights management. However, BCT has challenges in terms of standardization, interoperability, data privacy, security, accessibility, inclusivity, and integration with legacy systems. This paper will be useful for policymakers to implement the use of BCT in IPM.

The present article is confined to the legal examination of the ‘critical opinions’ and the ‘misconceptions’ rendered or drawn with regard to a recent judgement of ‘Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)’ in a case, commonly known as ‘Audi Spare Parts Case’ (C-334/22), whereby the CJEU has disallowed the use of a registered mark/sign (or a shape which is identical or similar to a registered mark/sign) on the spare parts of the car (or any complex product or machine for that matter) which interferes with the ‘essential functions’ of a mark/sign. The article summarily notes the involved facts and the legal context of the aforesaid case and then proceeds to analyse the congruity and the legal validity of the noted ‘critical opinions’, with the support of established legal principles, precedents, and statutory frameworks. The article also addresses and clarifies some misconceptions drawn with regard to the relevant legal concepts (of the Trade Marks Law), and concludes, in the wake of the findings of the legal analysis, that the Hon'ble Court has rightly upheld the intent and purport of ‘The Trade Marks Regulation’. At the end, the implications of the aforesaid judgement are also mentioned within a broader perspective, explaining their significance beyond the immediate context.

Despite the massive growth of creative industries, 92.37% of creative industry players in Indonesia are independently self-funded and have not received any outside funding such as banking credit. The government then issued Law Number 24 of 2019 concerning the Creative Economy (“Creative Economy Law”) where Article 16 verse (1) states that the government facilitates the development of Intellectual Property (IP)-Based Financing for Creative Economy actors. The “Creative Economy Law” was then followed by the issuance of Government Regulation Number 24 of 2022 concerning the Implementing R egulations of Law Number 24 of 2019 concerning the Creative Economy (“Indonesian Government Regulation of Creative Economy”) as the regulatory framework. Using the normative juridical and comparative approach, this article examines the implementation of those regulations in establishing the IP-based financing scheme for the creative industry in Indonesia, the progress, challenges, and potential solutions. This study shows that there's still a lack of political willingness from Indonesian banking institutions to accept and implement IP assets as collateral, therefore, concrete steps need to be taken for the formulation of IP-based financing and IP-based collateral through coordination and synergy between state holders and stakeholders for example by formulating pilot project led by the government.