Law of Trade Marks and of Geographical Indications
Full course description
This course covers the principles of economic market regulation under trade mark law and geographical indications. In this course, we first focus on the registration and protection of marks under European Union and national trade mark systems. You will be introduced to the pertinent concepts of trade mark law. Finally, the Madrid Agreement and its relationship with the European systems will be discussed.
In a second part, we will cover the protection of geographical indications of origin. We will study the rationale of GI protection, scope of protection and in particular its relationship with trade mark law. You will then become familiar with the international and the European framework of GI protection.
Course objectives
At the end of this course, the student
- can place trade marks and the law of unfair competition in an international and national perspective
- is able to critically assess the rationale of trade mark and geographical indications
- can describe the role and function of international institutions (WIPO, WTO, EUIPO) and instruments (PC, Madrid Agreement and Protocol and Lisbon Agreement, EC Directives and Regulations),
- will be conversant with concepts such as absolute and relative grounds, confusion, misappropriation, evocation and dilution, and
- is able to write, argue and present on these issues in the context of international protection of (well-known) marks and/or geographical indications of origin.
- A.W.J. Kamperman Sanders
- A. Moerland