News IP, IT and Trade Practices

Friday, 09 December 2011 09:21

In the Centennial book of the Review of Intellectual Property Law L'Ingénieur-Conseil - Intellectual Property, published today (Brussels, Bruylant Publishing, ISBN 978-2-8027-3631-8, available here), our partner Fernand de Visscher authored an article putting in doubt the compatibility of the Commission's proposal with the ECJ's opinion of 8 March 2011. Adding to the numerous criticisms of the proposal from various professional organizations, he points out the dangerous exposure of the future defendants to the free forum shopping  given to the claimants, in particular when combined with the bifurcation system. The article explains the practical and legislative advantages of another system copied from the one already existing for other EU-law intellectual property rights (trade marks, designs) with specific amendments.