Overlapping intellectual Property Rights

Description

Intellectual property (IP) rights regulate our knowledge economy to a significant extent, and have come to represent important markers of a country’s economic, technological, and cultural progress. In its present form, the IP umbrella comprises at least twelve distinct legal regimes, including patents, copyrights, and trademarks. While patents protect technological advances, copyrights protect original cultural expressions, and trademarks protect brands against slavish imitation by unscrupulous traders.   However, notwithstanding their supposedly distinct scope, IP regimes tend to overlap with respect to the same subject matter. Illustratively, computer software is protectable under both patent and copyright law. Similarly, a logo can be protected under both copyright and trademark law. Unfortunately, despite increasing overlaps in the IP firmament, individual IP regimes continue to be studied in isolated silos. This creates a significant gap in our understanding of intellectual property law and policy.   This book aims to fill that gap by providing a comprehensive and multi-jurisdictional account of overlaps. Written by a stellar constellation of IP experts, each chapter addresses a discrete pair of IP overlaps. Beginning with a hypothetical situation, it considers how legislatures and courts around the world have attempted to resolve it. The book also includes a valuable table at the end, summarizing the legal position for each set of overlapping rights in various countries around the world, including Europe, America, Asia, and the Middle East. The book also traverses the Indian perspective on overlaps in the introductory chapter, where key statutory provisions and judicial decisions are analysed.   This book will be useful to IP stakeholders around the world, including lawyers, scholars, in-house counsels, judges, policymakers, and students.