The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement), which constitutes Annex 1C of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO), is undoubtedly the most comprehensive international agreement on intellectual property protection ever established. This incomparable book, recognized since its first edition as the preeminent work on its subject, thoroughly and expertly examines the intricacies of the TRIPS provisions concerning trademarks and industrial designs. It is organized as a paragraph-by-paragraph annotated text of the Agreement, with detailed commentary not only on the articles specifically dealing with industrial property but on every clause in the Agreement that could affect the protection of trademarks and/or designs.
The third edition brings the author’s prodigious analysis of case law, dispute settlements, ongoing scholarship, and other pertinent developments fully up to date. With the authority and in-depth experience of a WIPO official whose daily work is to assist developing countries implementing TRIPS obligations in the area of industrial property, Nuno Pires de Carvalho brings his practical insight and vast scholarship to such complex questions as the following:
What is intellectual property about? What do trademarks and designs have in common with copyrights, patents and trade secrets?
How does the TRIPS Agreement interact with the Paris Convention? Should one treaty prevail over the other in case of conflict?
What is the real meaning of Articles 7 and 8 of the TRIPS Agreement? How should WTO Members ensure the balance of rights and obligations? What is the relation between measures to protect public health and nutrition and non-violation complaints? What is the difference between necessary and unnecessary measures? And what distinguishes necessary measures from justifiable encumbrances?
What signs constitute trademarks? What is the fundamental obligation under TRIPS as regards trademarks: to register or to protect? Are these terms synonymous?
What elements assist in identifying a well-known mark? Does knowledge mean reputation?
What are the limitations on the protection of non-visually perceptible marks like sounds, scents and tastes? Is there a Human Rights dimension in the protection of those non-traditional signs?
What are WTO Members’ obligations as regards marks that relate to goods and services that offend religious and moral values? Are they obliged to register and protect them?
What is the policy space left to WTO Members as regards trademarks and public health (medicines, tobacco, nutrition)? How far can WTO Members go in imposing plain tobacco package schemes?
What are the mechanisms available to protect industrial designs? To what exceptions and limitations are they subject? Can they be subject to compulsory licenses? Should designs of car body parts be treated differently?
What lessons can we learn so far from the Dispute Settlement Mechanism?
Lawyers, judges, scholars and government officials will find a wealth of information and legal analysis in this new edition of The TRIPS Regime of Trademarks and Designs that will help them identify new approaches and solutions to problems of trademark and design law posed by the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. With its combination of practically focused article-by-article commentary and scholarly analysis and insight, it will be an invaluable resource to all those who wish to understand industrial property at a deeper level.
