Nation Branding in the Andean Community: Decision 876 of 23 April 2021 for a Common Nation Brand Regime

On 23 April 2021, the Andean Community, comprised of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, adopted and published Decision 876 regulating the common nation brand regime for its territory. As a result, this integrated bloc of Latin American countries became a pioneer in this area. Decision 876 establishes a common regime for protecting country brands against any possible unauthorized registrations or the use of identical or similar signs in the Community’s Members Countries. It is interesting to note that, unlike other integration blocs in Latin America, the Andean Community has made notable progress in harmonizing regional regulations on intellectual property. In this sense, Decision 876 adds to its extensive legal corpus on the topic, with no similar rule existing in the other integration processes in the region. The Decision sets out the basic criteria related to Member Countries’ and third countries’ nation brands, the procedure for their protection and enforcement, and infringements.

Developing a Copyright Curriculum for Nigerian Universities for the Creative Digital Space

This paper explores the significance of teaching and learning digital copyright laws within a reformed Nigerian copyright regime. It further analyzes how an experiential and clinical teaching pedagogy, developed as part of a copyright law curriculum, will become an agency to protect, safeguard, and impel the development of Nigerian creative industries, particularly the film sector. Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and an emerging creative industrial power. The training and expertise of its legal professionals in the knowledge and creative economy have significant impact beyond Nigeria, across the length and breadth of the other African countries. The article sets out to provide a recipe for a functional approach to the development of a digital copyright curriculum in the law faculties of Nigerian universities as a pragmatic and industry-focused way of teaching while adding value to the creative industries. The paper further examines how the law faculties of Nigerian universities could redesign their copyright curriculum to teach not just theories but, more importantly, the wider policy framework. The paper also explores how to understand the practical, business and economic systems of the creative industries. The paper uses ‘Nollywood’, the contemporary Nigerian film industry, as a case study to continue the discussion on the sustainable development of the Nigerian creative industries.

Specialised IP Judiciary: What Are the Key Elements to Consider when Establishing or Reforming an Effective IP Court?

Intellectual property (‘IP’) is one of the key instruments for fostering innovation and promoting the growth of national economies. Given both the economic significance and the legal complexities associated with IP rights due to constant technological development, the benefits of having a specialised IP judiciary are being increasingly recognised across the globe. Many countries have either established or have been considering the introduction of various forms of such a specialised judiciary. This paper examines this trend and explores some key considerations in relation to the efficacy of an IP judiciary. It draws on some of the findings of a recently completed project funded by the UK government on the creation and functioning of a new IP court in Ukraine. While there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ model when creating a specialised IP judiciary, the discussion in this article sheds light on a number of key factors that should be taken into account and carefully assessed when establishing or reforming such a judiciary. This includes specific considerations related to the structure of an IP judiciary, its location, the specialisation of IP judges, exclusive jurisdiction and other procedural issues. We believe that the guidance provided in this article will assist policymakers in their choices regarding the most suitable design of an IP judiciary for a particular jurisdiction, leading to the enhancement of its operation for the benefit of all the stakeholders in the IP enforcement system.

Trade Mark Found Misleading for Suggesting a Continuity with the Tradition of the Previous Owner

Pauscha

Copyright Reservation Clauses and Reasonable Calculation of Damages

Copyright Reservation Clause

Legal Interest in the Revocation of an Expired Patent

Phytase

A Topography of Data Commons: From Regulation to Private Dynamism

Knowledge is subject to enclosure through digital technology and legal rules. Data collected, stored and pooled by the Internet of Things (IoT) or Artificial Intelligence (AI) are no exception to this. Operators acting in the markets related to the algorithmic society may have a quite diversified range of intellectual property rights (IPRs) to protect the information they produce and manage. This is exploited through algorithmic processing techniques, aggregating collected data for the generation of new ones, thus creating additional information and knowledge. This paper studies whether and when data, information and knowledge, presented within the Big Data, IoT and AI structures, may be considered and exploited as commons. The analysis is not aimed at stating that commons should be the general solution for the algorithmic society. Nor does it endorse legal interpretations unilaterally favoring openness and limiting IPR protection and privacy rules (though this could be the case under certain circumstances). The question is to establish whether a certain level of commons should be provided by regulation or left to spontaneous private initiatives. In this regard, two different meanings of data commons are used in this work. The first one refers to the open access systems provided by regulation, equivalent to a public domain protection, and opposed to exclusivity mechanisms. The second refers to data commons which are privately ‘constructed’ on top of background regulation and manage resources for a limited set of claimants.

Patent Protection Requires a Human Inventor

Dabus/Taiwan

Copyright Protection for Stage Opera Direction

Aida