Institute for Globalization and International Regulation

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is arguably one of the biggest crises of modern times. The conflict between the search for a vaccine, and the artificial scarcity created by patent law, has created a catch-22 situation. How will patent law apply to a vaccine under these circumstances?

Several pharmaceutical companies all around the world, including in the European Union (EU), have been racing to find a treatment for the virus. Since these may be subject to patent rights, government intervention may be needed.

To get photos of celebrities, paparazzi photographers wait for their targets to end up in the frame. They believe that the minute they released the shutter, the pictures are copyright protected. They don’t know that they might (un)knowingly or (un)intentionally breach someone’s right to privacy.

The rise of e-commerce has resulted in a sharp increase of counterfeit products in the market. The new US Shop Safe Bill introduces liability for online marketplaces, but only in case of counterfeit products that are risky for consumers, which makes this bill a preventive health measure for...

While at first glance this may seem like a chance to strike when the iron is hot, registering ‘Covid’ or ‘CoronaVirus’ as a trade mark faces several hurdles and rightly so: the trade mark may not be distinctive and will be considered immoral.

Trademark squatting has been a serious issue in China now, especially for foreign companies planning to enter the Chinese market. On November 4 th 2019, Beijing Municipal High People's Court issued a second-instance judgment on the “...

The grant of gene patents has been a highly contentious issue in the EU and US for many years. A new bill in the US proposes to lift the currently banned subject matter, with potentially severe effects.

On February 1 st , the UK has left the EU. This (has had or) will inevitably have an impact on unitary IP rights at EU level. Unitary IP rights such as the Community Plant Variety Right will no longer be valid after the transition period in the UK. What does this mean for holders of a Community...

The Court of the European Union (CJEU), in case T-683/19 (European Union Court, Seventh Section, judgment of 12...

Is the design of a pair of jeans a matter of industrial property under design law, or should it also be considered as a ‘work of artistic creation’ under copyright?

The protection of ‘offensive’, ‘scandalous’ and ‘immoral’ trademarks has been a subject of hot debate time and time again. To say that opinions on the matter are divided would be a great understatement. The US Supreme Court took a stance in its recent judgment on the protection of an ‘immoral’...

On the 4th of December, the Faculty of Law hosted a roundtable discussion on the upcoming EU Copyright Directive (2019/790) with viewpoints from students...

Macau, an island constituting one of the "Special Administrative Regions" of the People's Republic of China, has a unique patent system, which is notoriously advantageous for applicants. What is the benefit exactly and who benefits?

Since the establishment of the WTO, the promise was made that the world would finally have an effective system of enforcement for trade and IP law. Peter van den Bossche discusses the American boycott of the Dispute Settlement System (DSS) under the WTO, in light of the TRIPS Agreement, at the IGIR...

On December 10 th 2019, the Appellate Body (AB) of the WTO will remain with one judge only, Ms. Zhao Hong (China). This will impair the functionality of the AB as it requires three judges to operate. At the...

The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is a milestone. It allowed intellectual property (IP) to become far more present in society than ever before, connecting it to trade. But has this milestone, come for good, for better, or worse? TRIPS was understood to...

As the title suggests: Beyoncé already knew that good faith can determine the fate of one’s actions. This is also true for registering trade marks. One should hence avoid bad faith practices, as defined by Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

European Union research funding emphasises interactions between stakeholders as key to drive innovation on the continent. In that light, my PhD research within the EU-funded EIPIN Innovation Society project...

AIs are currently reversing the roots of the retail industry which was mainly based on a reactive model. Instead, based on their predictions, the model is changing and consumers are being highly influenced by AIs at any stage of the purchasing process. Does this challenge the roots of trademark law?

Recently, Chanel Co., Ltd. lost a trade mark infringement case regarding its ‘Double C’ logo in China. The full text of the decision can be visited via...

This week I am having the pleasure of attending the 2019 BIO International Convention hosted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The biggest global event of its kind, this international convention brings together stakeholders from across the biotechnologies. Whether it be from the health, agricultural...

Copyright protection in various artistic fields is already recognized and respected, however in comedy and stand-up performances, the question remains as to whether a comedian can be inspired by another comedian by appropriating and translating a part of his sketch.

With AI’s recent breakthrough in machine learning, now more than ever inventors are looking for ways to protect AI systems. But obtaining patent protection depends on the right claims.

When compared to other countries, European researchers in the field of human embryonic stem cells maybe at a disadvantage. Because of the morality clause in the European Patent Convention, the EPO does not grant patents on human embryonic stem cell research.

A new copyright reform (Music Modernization Act) was passed in the US Senate in 2018, comprising reforms on the term of protection for works played through online digital music services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora. However, can copyright keep on being repeatedly extended? Is this...

Now is high time to prepare for life without the Appellate Body—hopefully it will only be temporary, argued Maastricht doctoral researcher Jens Hillebrand Pohl at a guest lecture he gave at Nagoya University, Japan, on 23 April 2019.

Electronics companies increasingly engage in patent aggregation, that is to accrue patents without using them for manufacturing purposes. So far, it is unclear whether such behaviour has negative effects on innovation. If it did, could EU competition law remedy it?

E-personhood is a term proposed in a draft report by the EU Parliament, about civil rules and laws on Robotics. This legal status aims at ensuring rights and responsibilities for the most capable AI agents. An intense debate about its usefulness is taking place in the EU.

The quality of a granted patent is dependent on the quality of the patent application. For the companies where scientists write their own patents, IP legal training for scientists can help improving their patent drafting skills.

The fashion industry needs strong IPRs for its development, however, a lot of divergences are found between the strategy imposed in this sector and the way the IP system is drafted, which often fails to benefit small companies.

The advancement of big data may lead to a revolution in the health sector by enabling the personalization of medicine. However, there are still uncertainties regarding the ownership of the data available, and also whether users should be entitled to compensation for the utilisation of their data.

The recent cancellation decision of the word mark “BigMac” by the EUIPO Cancellation Division has raised several questions: is use of a trade mark on a website sufficient to fulfil the requirement of making genuine use of the mark? Or is evidence of sales required?

With the development of international trade, local products have started to spread all around the world and become popular worldwide. Geographical indications (GIs) are meant to protect the use of the name that indicates certain characteristics and the origin of products typical for a particular...

Artificial Intelligence has become a key player in today's society, especially with regards to technological and medical advances. However the question is, has the current patent system been able to provide suitable protection for inventions relying on Artificial Intelligence without human input?

A comparative analysis between the major patent systems shows that the number of claims in a patent is influenced by the fee structure: additional fees per claim lower the number of claims considerably as compared to a flat fee.

Unlike other sectors, improvements in Genetic technology raise issues of morality. The new human gene editing technology CRISPR/CAS9 has raised many such concerns. Can the current patent system deal with these concerns or should morality be dealt with by the inventors themselves?

According to IGIR fellow Michelle A. C. Kristy, WTO law should be interpreted in a way that takes the evolution of sustainable development into account. Her PhD research suggests six components of sustainable development that enable WTO Members to better identify relevant WTO provisions and to...

On 17 December the Law Faculty of Maastricht University hosted an international colloquium entitled “Restoring Trust in Trade” in honour of Professor Peter Van den Bossche.

The need to guarantee the free flow of information in a Big Data economy forces us to re-think Intellectual Property Rights and find an appropriate balance between competition, innovation, privacy and incentives.

Most people’s gut-feeling would say yes… because it sounds unfair. The CJEU also opines yes, but bends EU trade mark protection rules considerably and thereby increases EU trade mark protection for trade mark proprietors regarding two aspects: 1) the scope of when a sign is used in the course of...

Authors may sentence fictional characters to death to counter unwanted transformation of their characters. The authorship that copyright vests in authors grants them indisputable authority over their creations, so that their characters do not die from users’ transformation.

Geographical Indications (also known as GIs) are signs used to safeguard the link between a product and its place of origin. In order for a product to be protected as a GI, the exact production methods and environmental factors need to be documented. It is easy to imagine that traditional products...

Protected geographical indications (PGI) cannot be granted for names deemed generic in the language of a territory. The recent example of Danbo cheese shows that if a name is deemed to be generic under a certain legal framework (Codex), it may not necessarily be so under another legal framework (...

With or without the UK, the EU will try to find a way to implement the UPC as it has invested considerable time and efforts knowing the benefits it will bring; however, the fate of the Agreement could be decided on judicial grounds instead of political ones.

The music industry is currently on a peak mainly because of the huge boost of on-demand streaming. How did such a service manage to increase global music revenue on such a fast path? What were the circumstances facilitating its implementation?

We are currently not only in the middle of the 4th Industrial Revolution but also on the midst of global climate change. With the on-going issues surrounding climate change, the world of IP is also evidently affected by it. Companies are fostering innovation by coming up with new technology which...

The trade and sustainable development chapters included in recent EU FTAs have been criticized for lacking an effective enforcement mechanism, and in particular for the absence of sanctions to ensure compliance. This has been blamed for the poor implementation of their commitments by partner...