CEIPI's Newsletter n° 34 - April 12, 2016

The European Parliament published in April 2015 a call for tenders (IP/C/JURI/FWC/2015-002) in order to conclude a framework service contract for the provision of external expertise in the intellectual property field. The framework service contract is intended to support the work of the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) on current and emerging issues in the Intellectual Property field, enable the Committee to evaluate policy options and respond to proposals made by the European Commission and provide a solid basis for some of the Committee's own initiatives.

CEIPI, in partnership with the Brussels consultancy Milieu (http://www.milieu.be) applied to this call for tenders, the offer being selected by the European Parliament. In this way, CEIPI is reconfirmed as external expert to the EP (previous winning call IP/C/JURI /FWC/2011-001).

The Center for International Intellectual Property Studies hosted, in partnership with the members of the EIPIN network and the Spangenberg Center for Law, Technology & the Arts (Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Cleveland USA), the 17^th EIPIN Congress, held in Strasbourg, from the 28^th to 30^th January, Palais universitaire. The topic of the Congress was “Intellectual Property and the Judiciary”.

The European Intellectual Property Institutes Network (EIPIN) was founded in 1999 and represents some of Europe’s leading institutes of research and teaching in intellectual property. EIPIN members are Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute (University of London); Magister Lvcentinvs (University of Alicante), the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC), the Intellectual Property Law and Knowledge Management (Maastricht University) and CEIPI (University of Strasbourg) (http://www.eipin.org).

The CEIPI Research Department organized in partnership with the University of Lille a conference on the topic “The protection of trade secrets: National and European perspectives” on 1^st April 2016, at the Palais du Luxembourg, Paris.

This event was hold under the scientific direction of Mr. Jean Lapousterle, Professor at the University of Strasbourg, CEIPI and Mr. Bertrand Warusfel, Professor at the University of Lille.

The protection of trade secrets is of great interest for French and European companies and has close links with intellectual property law. The secret may well be an alternative to the protection afforded by patent law or the copyright when the strategic choice not to proceed to the disclosure of the creation or invention is made. In addition, it provides protection to items that cannot meet the requirements of the Code of Intellectual Property for the recognition of private rights.

Is it appropriate to strengthen the position of holders of trade secrets by punishing unauthorized apprehension or misappropriation of trade secrets?

The European Commission is firmly committed to this approach by publishing, on 28 November 2013, a draft directive on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure. That text, subsequently amended by the Council of the European Union, was then submitted to the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament. The European institutions are then reached a provisional agreement on 15 December 2015, as part of the trilogue procedure.

At this advanced stage of adoption of the proposed directive, the goal of this conference was to address the many fundamental issues that it raised.

Following the conference, the proceedings will be published in the CEIPI’s collection, LexisNexis.

You can download the programme .

See also: “CEIPI’s remarks on the proposal of a Directive on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure, December 2015”

http://www.ceipi.edu/index.php?id=5518&no_cache=1&L=2&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=8757

A one-day seminar entitled “Intellectual Property at the Court of Justice of the European Union” will be organized by the CEIPI’s Research Department and the Research Federation “L’Europe en mutation”, on 22^nd April 2016, under the scientific leadership of Ms. Stephanie Carre and Mr. Franck Macrez, Associate Professors at CEIPI.

As for the previous editions, the members of the Research Department as well as affiliated practitioners will analyze the recent developments in intellectual property case-law in the European Union. The one-day seminar will also open new perspectives to be pursued in the interest of the coherence and efficiency of the European system of intellectual property in the single market.

This event is opened to students, doctoral students, academics and practitioners and is validated in the framework of the continuing vocational training for lawyers.

Click on the picture to download the programme. Click here to download the registration form.

The CEIPI/WIPO/INPI Advanced Training Course on Intellectual Property, Technology Transfer and Licensing will take place from 13 to 24 June 2016 in Strasbourg. This training course is jointly organized since 1978 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) and the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Like in the past edition, the present course touches upon the legal and economic aspects of technology transfer and licensing. 

The training is addressed to officials of technology transfer professionals, including professionals working in university technology transfer offices, national and regional intellectual property offices and science and technology ministries. With an integrated and practical approach, the CEIPI/WIPO/INPI Advanced Training Course on Intellectual Property, Technology Transfer and Licensing will be also of the interest of lawyers and economists.

The program is likewise open to a limited number of external participants, who will benefit from the expertise of specialists from several international organizations, prestigious research institutes and universities, and renowned professionals, while interacting with professionals coming from all over the world. The interest of the program in developed, emerging and developing economies makes it a unique forum to exchange experiences and share opportunities.  

The program will be available soon on CEIPI’s website.

For further information, please contact Ms. Alexia Philipp for administrative questions/registration (philipp.alexia@ceipi.edu) or Xavier Seuba for questions related to the academic content of the program (xavier.seuba@ceipi.edu).

On 3^rd November 2015, Mr. Christophe Geiger, Professor at the University of Strasbourg and Director General of the CEIPI visited the Hanken School of Economics, Finland. During this visit, the signing of a cooperation agreement between the IPR University Center and the CEIPI was decided, with Ms. Nari Lee, Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Mr. Niklas Bruun, Director of the Center of International Economic Law.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) University Center brings together six of the most prestigious universities in Finland, namely: University of Helsinki, Aalto University, University of Turku, Hanken School of Economics, University of Eastern Finland and the University of Lapland.

This cooperation agreement, currently being finalized, is expected to be signed in 2016 between the two centers.

In the framework of this programme, the CEIPI Research Department welcomes from the 22 December 2015 to 14 June 2016, Mr. Min-Young Lee, Deputy Director, Design Examination Division, Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO - Korean Intellectual Property Office), who benefits from a scholarship of the Korean government (Korean Government Overseas Research fellowship). His research focuses on the topic “Effective Measures to Protect and Foster SMEs IP Information Service Industry, Which will Lead the Market with Creative Ideas Toward National Growth”.

On December 04^th, 2015, Mr. Theodoros Chiou obtained (ex aequo) the prize of the Research Federation “L’Europe en mutation” for his thesis defended on  February 26^th, 2015 on the topic "Towards a European IP contract law" written under the supervision of Professor Christophe Geiger, Director General and Director of the Research department of the CEIPI and Dionysia Kallinikou, Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Law Faculty.

This prize was created in 2012 in order to recognize the outstanding works of a PhD student from a member research organization, whom thesis topic correspond to the European dimension of the Research Federation and to its main research axis.

On January 2016, CEIPI was pleased to welcome Susy Frankel, Professor at the School of Law of Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) as visiting professor at CEIPI.

Susy Frankel is a Professor of Law and Director of the New Zealand Centre of International Economic Law, at Victoria University of Wellington. Since 2008 she has been Chair of the Copyright Tribunal (NZ). She has been a visiting professor at several universities including the University of Haifa, University of Iowa, University of Western Ontario, and as a Senior Fulbright Scholar and Senior Hauser Global Research Fellow at New York University Law School. Susy’s published research is in the field of international intellectual property law and particularly its nexus with both international trade and the protection of indigenous peoples’ intellectual property. She is the current president of the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research of Intellectual Property (ATRIP).

On Tuesday, April 12 2016 at 6.00 pm, Mr. Yves Lapierre, Director General of the French Industrial Property Office (INPI), will give a conference at the CEIPI on the topic:

"Les nouveaux défis de la propriété industrielle, les nouveaux métiers".

CEIPI - Amphithéâtre 25 ; 11, rue du Maréchal Juin,
67046 STRASBOURG

In the framework of the CEIPI-BETA Project “Law and Economics of Intellectual Property”, CEIPI is organizing with the Bureau for Economic Theory and Applications of the University of Strasbourg (BETA) a conference headed with “The World IP report on breakthrough innovation and economic growth” on 25 April 2016, by Carsten Fink, Chief Economist, Economic Studies, Statistics and Analysis Division at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

In the context of the lecture series “(Re)thinking Intellectual Property, Fundamental Questions and New Perspectives”, the CEIPI has the pleasure of welcoming  on 9 May 2016, 18h00 (amphi 23) Ms. Irene Calboli, Lee Kong Chian Fellow & Deputy Director, Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia (ARCIALA), School of Law, Singapore Management University. Her public lecture will focus on the topic “3D printing, trademark protection and the luxury industry”. The debate will be animated by Mr. Christophe Geiger, Director General of CEIPI.

Click here to access the abstract and her biography.

The CEIPI & BETA Project in Law and Economics of Intellectual Property was pleased to welcome for the 18^th CEIPI&BETA workshop, Professor Dan L. Burk, on Monday 29 February 2016. The workshop, titled “Property Rules, Liability Rules, and the Public Interest in Patent Remedies” addressed the relationship between intellectual property enforcement and the public interest. Professor Burk introductory conference opened the discussion animated by economists and legal scholars on the close relationship between the public interest and intellectual property enforcement. Whether the European and the American views differ in this regard - in particular in light of the US consideration of the “public interest” as an independent criterion when awarding injunctions - was also a part of the discussion.

Professor Dan L. Burk is Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine, where he is a founding member of the law faculty. An internationally prominent authority on issues related to high technology, he lectures, teaches, and writes in the areas of patent, copyright, electronic commerce, and biotechnology law. He is the author of numerous papers on the legal and societal impact of new technologies, including articles on Internet regulation, on the structure of the patent system, and on the economic analysis of intellectual property law.

This joint research project at the University of Strasbourg brings together lawyers and economists to formulate a common methodology and scientific output on a broad range of IP related issues. Directed by Prof. Christophe Geiger, Director General at CEIPI, and Prof. Julien Pénin, Associate Director at BETA (Bureau of Theoretical and Applied Economics), it is inter alia implemented through workshops and under the coordination of Xavier Seuba, Senior Lecturer, Academic Coordinator and Judicial Training Manager at CEIPI.

Click here for further information concerning the CEIPI-BETA Project in Law and Economics of IP.

In the framework of the CEIPI-BETA Project on “Law and Economics of Intellectual Property”, CEIPI and the Bureau for Economic Theory and Applications of the University of Strasbourg (BETA) in cooperation with the I3PM (http://www.i3pm.org/) were pleased to welcome Mr. Bo Heiden, Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property, of the University of Gothenburg (Sweden).

This conference entitled “The value of standard essential patents - The battle to define the meaning of FRAND” took place on Wednesday, January 13^th 2016, at CEIPI.

Download the attached file for further information concerning this event.

In the framework of the CEIPI-BETA Project on “Law and Economics of Intellectual Property”, CEIPI and the Bureau for Economic Theory and Applications of the University of Strasbourg (BETA) were pleased to welcome Professor Ruth Towse, Bournemouth University, Co-Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management.

This research seminar entitled “Economics and the future of collecting societies” took place on December 2^nd 2015 at CEIPI.

Click here for further informations.

On Tuesday, 24^th November 2015, the CEIPI had the honour to welcome the Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of the Digital Single Market, Mr. Andrus Ansip, for a conference-debate on the topic of the future copyright reform in the EU: “Is copyright in the EU fit for the 21^st century?”

Mr. Ansip, former Prime Minister of Estonia, was appointed Vice-President of the European Commission in 2014, where he is in charge of the digital market portfolio. The modernisation of Europe’s copyright rules is an essential step towards completing the European digital single market. The European Commission has vowed to table its proposals for a “copyright regime fit for the digital age” in 2015. The debate was animated and introduced by Mr. Christophe Geiger, Professor at the University of Strasbourg and Director General of CEIPI.

On this occasion, the President of the University of Strasbourg, Mr. Alain Beretz pronounced the opening remarks.

Link to the Video recording of the conference: http://utv.unistra.fr/video.php?id_video=673

The Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) is pleased to announce the publication of the second volume of the CEIPI/ICTSD publication series Global Perspectives and Challenges for the Intellectual Property System, produced jointly with the International Centre for Trade and Development (ICTSD). The CEIPI/ICTSD publication series intends to provide high quality academic and policy-oriented papers dealing with topics that are of global relevance because of their normative preeminence, economic relevance, and socioeconomic impact. On this occasion, the focus of interest has been specialized judicial adjudication in the intellectual property domain. 

In order to address this multifaceted issue, the series editors invited Professor Jacques de Werra from the University of Geneva to write the lead article, titled Intellectual Property Courts – Issues and Challenges. As highlighted by de Werra, under the TRIPS Agreement countries have the option to create specialised intellectual property courts. The experience in both developed and developing countries varies and it is difficult to give a simple and unique answer to the question of whether it is beneficial to establish specialised intellectual property courts. Jacques de Werra concludes that how advantageous or necessary it is to establish specialised intellectual property courts in a given jurisdiction depends on a number of factors that go beyond intellectual property. This thesis is confirmed by the analysis of the situations in Brazil, India, China, and Uganda made by the country analysis provided by renowned experts in their respective papers: Denis Borges Barbosa is Permanent Professor of the Institute of Economy of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Pedro Marcos Nunes Barbosa is Professor at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Shamnad Basheer is the Honorary Research Chair Professor of IP Law at the Institute of Law, Nirma University; Jacques de Werra is Professor at the University of Geneva; Susan Isiko Štrba is visiting Senior Research Fellow at the University of the Witwatersrand; and Hong Xue is Professor and Director of the Institute for Internet Policy and Law of Beijing Normal University.

Click on the cover to download the publication.

Mr. Yann Basire, Associate Professor at University of Haute-Alsace and member of CEIPI Research Department

Yann Basire has published in 2015 one book (« Les fonctions de la marque : essai sur la cohérence du régime juridique d’un signe distinctif »)  and several notes and articles, among which we are counting: « La renommée de la marque ou l’émergence d’un droit moral en droit des marques » and « ‘Je suis Charlie’ : la tentative de récupération d’un ‘symbole’ par le droit des marques ».

Click here to access the full list of his publications.

Mr. Adrien Bouvel, Associate Professor at the University of Strasbourg and member of CEIPI Research Department

Adrien Bouvel has published in 2015 several notes and articles, among which we are counting: « Chronique, marques et autres signes distinctifs, en Propriétés intellectuelles 1/2015, n° 54 ».

Click here to access the full list of his publications.

Ms. Stéphanie Carre, Associate Professor at CEIPI and member of CEIPI Research Department

Stéphanie Carre is author of numerous articles; in addition of writing reviews on the Articles 118 and 262 of the TFEU in the forthcoming book by Springer, “The Commentary on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union” under the direction of HJ Blanke and S. Mangiameli, she published also in the reference book “Les grands arrêts de la propriété intellectuelle” two articles on exceptions: “Des exceptions d’usage privé : Le cas de l’exception de copie privée”, “Des exceptions d’usage public : De l’interprétation stricte de l’exception de courte citation à la construction d’une limite ?”.

Click here to access the full list of her publications.

Mr. Christophe Geiger, Professor at the University of Strasbourg, Director General and Director of the Research Department of CEIPI

Christophe Geiger has published in 2015 some books and several articles and book chapters. In particularly, he edited the “Research Handbook on Human Rights and Intellectual Property, Cheltenham (UK)/Northampton, MA (USA), Edward Elgar Publishing”.

Click here to access the full list of his publications.

Mr. Théo Hassler, Professor at CEIPI and member of the Research Department of CEIPI

Théo Hassler has published in 2015 among others: « Le nom patronymique utilisé à des fins commerciales est un objet de propriété » and « Conditions générales des réseaux sociaux versus la protection des personnes ».

Click here to access the full list of his publications.

Ms. Natalia Kapyrina, Research assistant and member of the Research Department of CEIPI

Natalia Kapyrina published in 2015 particularly: « Droit des dessins et modèles » (with Pierre Greffe), in Franck Macrez (ed.), « Chronique : Un an de jurisprudence de la CJUE et du Tribunal de l’Union européenne en propriété industrielle », Propriété Industrielle (LexisNexis) ».

Ms. Laure Marino, Professor at the University of Strasbourg and member of the Research Department of CEIPI

Laure Marino has published numerous articles and chronicles in 2015, among which we quote: « Des exceptions au droit d’auteur au secours des humanités numériques ?, in Propriété littéraire et artistique et humanités numériques ».

Click here to access the full list of her publications.

http://lauremarino.blogspot.fr/p/curriculum-vitae.html

Mr. Norbert Olszak, Professor at University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and member of the Research Department of CEIPI

Norbert Olszak has published mainly 2 articles in the IP field: « Le vin de terroir et la naissance des appellations d'origine » and « Du poivre, oui, du champagne, non..., en tout cas sur l'étiquette », Revue de droit rural.

Click here to access the full list of his publications.

Ms. Caroline Rodà, Lawyer, Doctor in Law and member of the Research Department of CEIPI

Caroline Rodà has published in 2015 particularly in the journal Propriété industrielle, LexisNexis « Un an de jurisprudence de la Cour de Justice et de Tribunal de l’Union européenne en propriété industrielle », under the supervision of Franck Macrez.

Click here to access the full list of her publications.

Mr. Xavier Seuba, Senior Lecturer at CEIPI and member of the Research Department of CEIPI

Among the numerous articles and books published by Xavier Seuba in 2014 we are counting: “From TRIPS to preferential trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and related trends in the European Union: Challenges for Emerging Countries”.

Click here to access the full list of his publications.

Information about the CEIPI training programme preparing for the European Qualifying Examination (EQE) 2017 and details regarding enrolment will be available on the CEIPI website as from April 2016.

The CEIPI training programme will particularly take into account the change of the AB papers format for the EQE 2017 in order to allow participants to prepare themselves as effectively as possible for these papers.

More than 320 candidates have attended the CEIPI courses preparing for the EQE 2016. They have highlighted the excellent quality of the teaching and the training material.

Yann Basire, Associate Professor at the University of Haute-Alsace and member of the CEIPI Research Department, Stéphanie Carre, Associate Professor at CEIPI, University of Strasbourg and Franck Macrez, Associate Professor at CEIPI, University of Strasbourg participated in the symposium organized by the "Centre de recherche sur le droit des marchés et des investissements internationaux" (CREDIMI), University of Bourgogne which took place from 29^th March to 01^st April, 2016 in Dijon on the topic: "Actualité des propriétés intellectuelles, en droit américain, européen et français".

On 31^st March, Franck Macrez spoke on the topic "'actualité du droit des logiciels", on 01^st April, Stéphanie Carre spoke on the topic " Le problème des œuvres orphelines" and Yann Basire spoke on the topic "Actualités du droit des marques".

Clik here to access the programme.

Mr. Christophe Geiger, Professor at the University of Strasbourg and Director General of the CEIPI, gave a presentation on 30 March 2016 at the workshop organized by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research of the University of Bielefeld, in Germany on the topic “Statutory Licences as Enabler of Creative Uses”.

 Click here to download the programme.

Mr. Christophe Geiger, Professor at the University of Strasbourg and Director General of the CEIPI, will participate in the conference organized by the Vanderbilt Intellectual Property Program of the Vanderbilt Law School on the topic: “Reconciling Freedom to Create with Copyright Law”, to take place on March 15, 2016 at the Vanderbilt Law School.

For further information: https://events.vanderbilt.edu/index.php?eID=84068

Mr. Yann Basire, Associate Professor at the University of Haute-Alsace and  member of the CEIPI's Research Department, spoke at the symposium organized by the CNCPI, in partnership with the INPI and the Centre Paul Roubier, on the topic “Les indications géographiques protégeant les produits industriels et artisanaux (IGPIA) : Un nouvel actif immatériel : Perspectives spatiales et substantielles”.

This symposium took place on February 3^rd, 2016 at the University Jean Moulin III in Lyon.

M. Basire spoke on the topic “Les incidences en droit des marques”.

Click on the poster to download the programme.

The Association MédiaDroit organized a study day entitled  “Le droit contre-attaque”, on Thursday, December 3^rd at the Patio, University of Strasbourg.

Jean-Baptiste Varoqueaux, doctoral Student at CEIPI, spoke on the topic “Invention fictive: la revanche des geeks”.

Click here for further information concerning this event.

The Common Service Documentation (SCD) of the University of Strasbourg organized a series of discussions, workshops entitled “Matinales de la bibliothèque”. The latest edition took place on December 03^rd, 2015. Yann Basire, Assistant Professor at the University of Haute-Alsace and member of the CEIPI's Research Department and Karlo Fonseca Tinoco, PhD in Law from CEIPI, talked about the book Les fonctions de la marque.