Overlapping Intellectual Property Rights - Hardcover

With this volume the editors have put together a remarkably erudite review of the interplay between multiple different intellectual property regimes ... anyone who is seeking to broaden and deepen their understanding of intellectual property rights should buy this book. (Kenneth L. Wilton, The Trademark Reporter)

Overlapping intellectual property rights should be central to both intellectual property theory and practice, yet the legal literature had not yet adequately addressed this important topic, The book edited by Neil Wilkof and Shamnad Basheer offers the first comprehensive, and much needed, analysis from multiple angles and with respect to multiple jurisdictions. Remarkably for a book written by many distinguished authors, the book adopts a uniform structure-hypothetical, discussion and conclusion-where each chapter addresses a specific pair of overlapping rights. In addition, the summary tables provide a comparative overview of the various overlaps across 18 different jurisdictions. The result is well-thought, coherent, and comprehensive. This book is a must have, and a must read, for any intellectual property practitioner and scholar, wherever located. (Dr. Irene Calboli, Professor of Law, Marquette University Law School)

Overlaps among intellectual property laws have grown more common as the laws themselves have grown. The result is often haphazard cumulative copyright, patent, trademark, design or other protection or liability, and consequent theoretical untidiness and practical complexity. This timely and impressive volume brings together a distinguished international team of legal experts from practice and academia to analyze and justify the extent and impact of cumulative protection and overlapping liability in key jurisdictions throughout the world. This is compulsory reading for intellectual property aficionados everywhere, from national and international policy makers and academic thinkers to those engaged in the daily practice of drafting contracts, giving legal advice, and litigating disputes. (Professor David Vaver, Emeritus Professor of Intellectual Property & Information Technology Law, University of Oxford, & Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, Canada.)

The unique insight of the authors is that intellectual property cannot properly be understood as a set of distinct disciplines; each must be seen from the perspective of the others. The editors have assembled some of the world's leading experts to explain, in fully digestible prose, the connections and relationships among subjects normally treated in isolation. The result will not just inform you, but catalyze new thinking. You'll never look at IP the same way again. (James Pooley, Deputy Director, World Intellectual Property Organization)

This volume is an indispensable resource for the scholar, practitioner and policymaker alike. It deals with weighty but unavoidably complex issues with clarity, precision and a solid grounding in the policy foundations of the intellectual property system. It should both inform and stimulate much needed further debate and analysis on the wide array of issues it covers. (Anthony Taubman, Director, Intellectual Property Division, World Trade Organization)

In reading the book, I think I "yellow-lined" something in almost every paragraph ... As mentioned in the book, "the book's value will be found in its ability to help readers appreciate the scope of the framework around intellectual property overlaps." (Glenn Wheeler, Les Nouvelles)

Wilkof and Basheer's text is the first port of call for the Intellectual Property team at Sparke Helmore when dealing with foreign jurisdictions. We use it to navigate the myriad of complex legal issues that frequently arise out of multijurisdictional intellectual property rights, particularly when there is more than one species of intellectual property to consider. The text addresses the convergence of intellectual property rights in a practical way that we find most helpful when advising our clients and developing brand protection strategies. For example, issues often arise involving both patents & trade secrets and copyright & trade marks, each of which is comprehensively explored in dedicated chapters. (Shannon Platt, Sparke Helmore)

Providing a comprehensive and systematic commentary on the nature of overlapping Intellectual Property rights and their place in practice, this book is a major contribution to the way that IP is understood. IP rights are mostly studied in isolation, yet in practice each of the legal categories created to protect IP rights will usually only provide partial legal coverage of the broader context in which such rights are actually created, used, and enforced. Consequently, often multiple IP rights may overlap, in whole or in part, with respect to the same underlying subject matter. Some patterns, for instance, in addition to being protected from copying under the design rights regime, may also be distinctive enough to warrant trade mark protection.

Each chapter addresses a discrete pair of IP rights and is written by a specialist in that area. Facilitating an understanding of how and when those rights may be encountered in practice, each chapter is introduced by a hypothetical situation setting out the overlap discussed in the chapter. The conceptual and practical issues arising from this situation are then discussed, providing practitioners with a full understanding of the overlap.

Also included is a valuable summary table setting out the legal position for each set of overlapping rights in jurisdictions across Europe, Central and South America, and Asia, and the differences between them.