Justine Pila, The Subject Matter of Intellectual Property

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-144
Author(s):  
Patrick Masiyakurima
Author(s):  
Justine Pila

This chapter considers the relative absence of scholarly attention to the meaning of the terms used to denote the subject matter that IP rights protect and the nature of those subject matter themselves. It then outlines the aims and methods of the definitional task undertaken in later chapters, and the stages in which that task proceeds. Using the distinction drawn by Richard Robinson, it proposes a nominal word:thing definitional exercise, rather than a word:word exercise, that considers recent use of the terms to be defined by European and UK legal officials. Drawing on the stipulative nature of authoritative legal definition, it also proposes an explicative aspect to the definitional exercise, focused on clarifying legal officials’ understandings of the relevant terms in the light of the relevant legal and policy context. And finally, it summarizes the conclusions reached at each stage of the definitional exercise undertaken in later chapters.


Author(s):  
Justine Pila

This book offers a study of the subject matter protected by each of the main intellectual property (IP) regimes. With a focus on European and UK law particularly, it considers the meaning of the terms used to denote the objects to which IP rights attach, such as ‘invention’, ‘authorial work’, ‘trade mark’, and ‘design’, with reference to the practice of legal officials and the nature of those objects specifically. To that end it proceeds in three stages. At the first stage, in Chapter 2, the nature, aims, and values of IP rights and systems are considered. As historically and currently conceived, IP rights are limited (and generally transferable) exclusionary rights that attach to certain intellectual creations, broadly conceived, and that serve a range of instrumentalist and deontological ends. At the second stage, in Chapter 3, a theoretical framework for thinking about IP subject matter is proposed with the assistance of certain devices from philosophy. That framework supports a paradigmatic conception of the objects protected by IP rights as artifact types distinguished by their properties and categorized accordingly. From this framework, four questions are derived concerning: the nature of the (categories of) subject matter denoted by the terms ‘invention’, ‘authorial work’, ‘trade mark’, ‘design’ etc, including their essential properties; the means by which each subject matter is individuated within the relevant IP regime; the relationship between each subject matter and its concrete instances; and the manner in which the existence of a subject matter and its concrete instances is known. That leaves the book’s final stage, in Chapters 3 to 7. Here legal officials’ use of the terms above, and understanding of the objects that they denote, are studied, and the results presented as answers to the four questions identified previously.


Author(s):  
Correa Carlos Maria

This chapter focuses on the issue of exhaustion of rights. Article 6 disclaims any intent in the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement to limit the Members’ freedom to regulate the issue of exhaustion of rights with regard to all types of intellectual property rights (IPRs). It declares the admissibility of the international exhaustion of rights, that is, the possibility of legally importing into a country a product protected by intellectual property rights, after the product has been legitimately put on the market in a foreign market. These imports—made by a party without the authorization of the title-holder but equally legal—are generally known as ‘parallel imports’. Moreover, Article 6 of the TRIPS Agreement has left Member countries freedom to incorporate the principle of exhaustion of rights into their domestic law with a national, regional, or international reach. The issue as such cannot be the subject matter of a dispute settlement under the Agreement.


Author(s):  
Torremans Paul

This chapter discusses the limitations of the English courts' jurisdiction under the traditional rules. It first considers three types of limitations: limitations that affect the subject matter of the issue, limitations that affect the kind of relief sought, and limitations relating to persons between whom the issue is joined. It also explains limitations on jurisdiction imposed by certain statutes before addressing jurisdiction in respect of foreign property such as foreign immovables and intellectual property rights. Furthermore, it describes jurisdiction over the parties, focusing on persons who cannot invoke the jurisdiction and those who may claim exemption from the jurisdiction. The chapter concludes with an overview of statutory limitations on jurisdiction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-216
Author(s):  
Jane Cornwell

Scotland is said to enjoy an economy rich in intellectual property (“IP”), but reported decisions from the Court of Session in IP matters are rare. This article analyses a new dataset of Court of Session IP actions compiled from court records for the period from 2008 to 2014, alongside a survey and interviews conducted among Scottish legal practitioners working in the field of IP. The research provides insights into the Court of Session's IP caseload, parties and their sectors, the subject matter of claims and remedies sought. This article discusses key themes emerging from the research data against the broader context of civil justice reform and jurisdictional competition between the Scottish, English and other courts.


Lex Russica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 19-27
Author(s):  
N. V. Zaitseva

The paper is devoted to the problem of using the work of another person in the intellectual field, primarily in literary activity. The involvement of ghostwriters in writing literary works has created a legal phenomenon when the subject matter of contractual relations represents the inalienable non-property right, namely: the right of authorship the transfer of which is not possible in many jurisdictions, and in others, despite the absence of an explicit prohibition, there is no legal regulation of such alienation. However, the existence of ghostwriters cannot be assessed as a unique phenomenon of modernity. In our time, they have only gained new forms and a special place not only in the literary, but also in the scientific field. In this regard, the establishment of legal mechanisms for attracting and regulating ghostwriters is more effective than the establishment of a system of prohibitions.In the conditions of changing publishing businesses and increasing ways and forms of proof, questions about the authenticity of a person's authorship began to arise increasingly, especially in the field of scientific and scholarly literature, where the work of "new" researchers is often used. The issue of assignment of the right of authorship (copyright) — a fundamental property right — is treated differently in different legal systems. The continental system of law relies on impossibility of transferring copyright from one entity to another as part of a civil law transaction. Therefore, instances of attribution of authorship are assessed in the context of criminal or administrative law. It forms the legal essence of the division of rights of authorship into property and nonproperty ones: any commercial rights to intellectual property can be ceded except the authorship.


Author(s):  
Justine Pila

This chapter proposes a framework for thinking about the subject matter protectable by intellectual property (IP) and related questions of analytic assistance. The proposed framework is built around certain devices of philosophy, including the artifact, types and tokens, the category, and the property. In combination, these devices support a paradigmatic or focal conception of the subject matter protectable by European and UK IP law. According to that conception, IP subject matter are artifact types distinguished by their properties and categorized accordingly. The analytic and normative value of this conception is discussed, and certain distinctions of importance for IP subject matter outlined, complementing those identified in Chapter 2. The questions of analytic assistance derived from the framework concern the essential properties of IP subject matter, the method of their individuation, their relationship with their concrete instances or tokens, and the manner by which their and their tokens’ existence is known.


Author(s):  
Justine Pila

This chapter defines the terms used to denote the subject matter protectable by European and UK registered and unregistered design right with reference to legal officials’ understanding of each type of subject matter. Starting from a recognition of the intersection of the design right and other intellectual property regimes, the chapter considers several aspects of design law before concluding that designs are authorial works within the meaning of European or traditional UK copyright authorities, albeit with a different history of production than that traditionally required of such works by UK legal officials. The chapter concludes with a summary of the categories and essential properties of registered and unregistered designs, an account of legal officials’ methods for individuating them, and a discussion of the relationship between legal officials’ methods of establishing the existence of individual registered and unregistered designs and their tokens respectively.


2018 ◽  
pp. 11-19
Author(s):  
Andrii Khridochkin

The conceptual bases of administrative liability for intellectual property legislation offence are revealed in the article. The existing legislative base providing administrative and legal protection of intellectual property in Ukraine is analyzed. Subjects of administrative and legal protection of intellectual property in Ukraine are defined. The competence of subjects of intellectual property administrative and legal protection is analyzed. Specific features of intellectual property as a subject of administrative and legal protection are characterized. It is concluded that these features must be taken into account. The basis for administrative liability in the intellectual property sphere has been determined. The offence of an administrative violation in the intellectual property sphere is considered. Its objective (object and objective aspect) and subjective (subject and mental element) aspects are singled out. Characteristics of an administrative offence features in the intellectual property sphere are given, such as public harm, wrongfulness, guilt and punishability. The subject matter of an administrative offence in the intellectual property sphere has been determined. The author suggests ways to improve the administrative and legal liability for offenses in the sphere of intellectual property. Measures are proposed to strengthen coherency and coordination of the activities of entities engaged in administrative and legal protection of intellectual property in Ukraine. It is proposed to focus on preventive work with a view to preventing administrative legislation offence in the intellectual property sphere.


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