Latest blog articles

  • UM signs charter for more equitable biomedical R&D

    Globally the majority of health-related R&D is invested in medicines with substantial guaranteed returns, yet what is missing is extensive R&D targeted at diseases overwhelmingly prevalent in developing countries. This threatens long-term availability of medicines and treatment options for these...

    UM signs Charter for more Equitable Biomedical R&D
  • On awkward membership: dealing with awkwardness: some positive signals

    There is wide agreement that the EU has not been effective in dealing with what I would define here as values’ awkwardness, cases in which EU Member States threaten the rule of law and the other common values of the European project. The obvious reference is in this respect to Hungary and Poland...

    Protection_no suspect interrogation without a lawyer
  • Plant variety rights and patent: which way to go?

    Innovation is stimulated by a well designed regulatory framework as well as a balanced and effective Intellectual Property (IP) protection. IP protection gives the innovator an exclusive right on his innovation and allows a fair sustained return for his investment. In agricultural industry, plant...

    Plants and seeds - blog conference
  • The unlawfulness of the Syria strikes

    In response to the (alleged) use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime in the city of Douma, the United Kingdom, United States, and France carried out a number of missile strikes against several government facilities. These strikes clearly violate basic rules of international law.

    Unlawfull gas attack blog on Law Blogs Maastricht
  • The proliferation of game clone in China versus copyright law

    “Game clone” means two kinds of act: one is the act of game piracy, where the second game is a reproduction or abridgement of earlier games. Another act is that of creating games where second game contains similar elements as compared to earlier games.

    Chinese game clone example nr 2
  • How path dependency affects the ongoing Brexit negotiations

    Now that the UK is ejecting itself from the confines of the EU what interest would they have to keep the principle of good faith within their legislations? And perhaps more interestingly, what incentive – if any – does the British politicians and negotiators have to negotiate their exit in a fair...

    Brexit versus European Union_awkward partner_image of a bull
  • The ECJ’s Uber judgment

    The recent ECJ’s judgment identifying Uber’s activities as transport services can be seen as a victory of the taxi sector against new business models. It affects the future of the platform economy in Europe by providing that certain composite services fall under the regulations governing the...

    OUTLINING_THE_FUTURE_OF_ONLINE_PLATFORMS_like_UBER.jpg
  • The risk in the personalisation trend of famous brands

    Nowadays, companies let consumers ‘play’ with their trademark: in the ‘Your Nutella – your way’ campaign the customer is invited to create his name label on a Nutella jar in the classic design of the Nutella logo. Nevertheless, there is an enhanced risk of trade mark dilution.

    Nutella branding marketing campaign
  • International business and human rights arbitration, a trustworthy remedy

    An international working group has engaged in a project to create an international arbitration mechanism for business and stakeholders to resolve issues in the field of business and human rights. This may enable business to live up to its corporate responsibility to respect human rights thereby...

    International business and human rights