Licensing Agreements and the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual Property Transfer Arrangments

Drafted to protect the IPR owner by restrictingthe licensee’s use of the IPR.

Restrictions

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.

International Protection

Patents

Unitary system for the applicationand grant of European patents and a uniformsystem for the resolution of litigation concern-ing patent infringement

Trade Marks

Right of priority to a trademark holder if the foreign registrations are made within six months after original registration

Domain Names

Process that submits complaints and replies electronically over the Internet to a WIPOArbitration and Mediation Center

Copyrights

The Berne Convention grants national treatment to copyright holders from other signatories automatically from the moment of creation

The Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health

Geogrpahical Indications

Determination of whether an item is generic requires an analysis ofthe conditions in the country where a mark is sought

Continuing TRIPS Turmoil on Biodiversity

Article 27.3

Permits countries to exclude plants, animals and biological processes form patent protection

The Mechanics of IPR Transfer Regulations

Prior Approval Schemes

Requiring substantive prior approval from a vgoernment agency is the more intrusive type of regulatory scheme

Notification Regitrations Schemes

Risk that the government bureaucracy can make an unauthorized disclosure of the foreign party’s intellectual property

The 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.

Resolutions of Dispute

The exhaustion doctrine, if pursued to its logical end, would create a wide-open gray market