Licensing Agreements and the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
The Gray Market
Resolutions of Dispute
The exhaustion doctrine, if pursued to its logical end, would create a wide-open gray market
The Nature of the problem
The gray market principally threatens the U.S.licensor if the product is sold at a lower priceabroad than in the United States.
The Mechanics of IPR Transfer Regulations
Notification Regitrations Schemes
Risk that the government bureaucracy can make an unauthorized disclosure of the foreign party’s intellectual property
Prior Approval Schemes
Requiring substantive prior approval from a vgoernment agency is the more intrusive type of regulatory scheme
The Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health
Continuing TRIPS Turmoil on Biodiversity
Article 27.3
Permits countries to exclude plants, animals and biological processes form patent protection
Geogrpahical Indications
Determination of whether an item is generic requires an analysis ofthe conditions in the country where a mark is sought
International Protection
Copyrights
The Berne Convention grants national treatment to copyright holders from other signatories automatically from the moment of creation
Domain Names
Process that submits complaints and replies electronically over the Internet to a WIPOArbitration and Mediation Center
Trade Marks
Right of priority to a trademark holder if the foreign registrations are made within six months after original registration
Patents
Unitary system for the applicationand grant of European patents and a uniformsystem for the resolution of litigation concern-ing patent infringement
Intellectual Property Transfer Arrangments
Drafted to protect the IPR owner by restrictingthe licensee’s use of the IPR.
International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
Guarantees that in each signa-tory country, foreign trademark and patentapplications from other signatory countriesreceive the same treatment and priority asthose from domestic applicants.
Restrictions
Customer Restrictions
Output
Field of use
Geographical Limitations
