Parallel trade and free trade agreements

Legal context. Free trade agreements seek to remove unjustifiedbarriers to trade. Normally barriers to trade are imposed bystates, such as quotas, tariffs, subsidies and regulatory restrictions.However, sometimes barriers will be imposed by private partiesseeking to prevent parallel trade (arbitrage) of their own products.The aim of this article is to examine the way in which freetrade agreements deal with private barriers to parallel tradeand thus to consider to what extent parallel trade is possiblewithin free trade areas. Key points. The article considers first the situation withinthe European Community, which has long supported parallel tradethrough its provisions on the free movement of goods and competitionlaw, before turning to the approach taken in the Community'sfree trade agreements with third countries. It carries out thesame exercise in relation to the United States and then considershow parallel trade is dealt with by the World Trade Organisation.Finally, as free trade agreements only seek to remove unjustifiedbarriers, it considers possible justifications for the differentapproaches before drawing some tentative conclusions. Practical significance. This article considers the impact whichthe overlap between intellectual property, competition law andtrade law has in relation to parallel trade. As well as reviewingthe current position, which will be of use to businesses andlegal practitioners on both sides of parallel trade, it assessesthe underlying justifications which are relevant to policy makingin this field.     

Polish Supreme Administrative Court says no to trade marks for trade mark attorneys

The Supreme Administrative Court of Poland rejected the cassationcomplaint brought by the Kulikowska & Kulikowski (K&K)law firm and thereby confirmed that trade mark attorneys cannotapply for trade mark registrations in their own interest.     

商标权与商号权的权利冲突及解决途径

作为商业识别标记，商标与商号不仅用以区别商事主体和商品来源，而且还承载商事主体享有的商业信誉、商品的质量承诺。商标与商号本身具有的宣传和促销功能在激烈的市场竞争中所发挥的效用更是不可低估。随着市场经济发展和竞争加剧，企业为了争夺市场、扩大影响导致了商标权与商号权的权利冲突不断发生且有加剧之势。因此，如何完善商标、商号立法及相互间的协调，寻求商标权与商号权权利冲突……     

Whose trade mark rights? What the Microsoft case means for trade mark owners

Legal context. The article considers the influence of the commissionruling in the Microsoft case, forcing Microsoft to use its WINDOWS-trademark for an ‘unbundled’ version of the program inthe light of the trade mark owner's properties rights. The scopeof these rights is determined by the function of the trade markand the rights that the trade mark laws confer to the ownerin case of infringement. Key points. Trade marks are protected as property rights undercommunity law. They are the embodiment of past investments andtransform the reputation of the owner into a bankable asset.Consumers rely on trade mark owners' control over quality. Thisis mirrored by the rights of the trade mark owner to stop interferencewith quality and image, in particular in the context of resaleof altered products. Any interference that would be considereda trade mark infringement if committed by a private party shouldbe considered an interference with the protected property rightif caused by a government agency. This interference is not justifiedby the public interest because trade mark rights also embodyimportant public interests. Practical significance. If the analysis proposed in the articleis followed, intellectual property rights have to be given greaterweight in shaping antitrust remedies.     

Grunwick and trade union recognition

This article considers the approach of law schools to the assessment of students' use of English. The QAA subject benchmark statement for law requires students to demonstrate the ability to use English proficiently but over recent years there has been anecdotal evidence that some students who lack this ability have obtained law degrees. To obtain further information on how law schools try to ensure compliance with the relevant benchmark, a short questionnaire was sent to a randomly selected sample of 20 English law schools. This article presents the results of that research, considers some of its possible implications and concludes that the assessment methods that many law schools are currently employing do not ensure compliance with the relevant benchmark.     

Out of the woods: the illegal trade in tropical timber and a European trade hub

This article responds to the call for more empirical knowledge about transnational environmental crime by analysing the illegal trade in tropical timber. It aims to provide insights into the social organisation of the illegal transports of tropical timber within the local research setting of the port of Antwerp (Belgium) but meanwhile pays attention to elements throughout the flows from locations of origin over transit to destination. It is often difficult to determine which legal and illegal actors are involved in transnational environmental crime. This research sheds light on the legal–illegal interfaces in tropical timber flows connected to this European setting. The results show that the social organisation of transnational environmental crime is shaped by the global context of the places of origin, transit and destination, where it is continuously on a thin line between legal and illegal.     

Human rights and trade mark rights

Legal context. For some time the UK Trade Marks Registry hasrefused to register trade marks which consists of the name ofa well-known individual. This article examines whether the practiceis permissible, not in the terms of intellectual property lawbut whether it is in contravention of the applicant's humanrights. Key points. Looking at the application of the Human Rights Actin the United Kingdom, the article asks how it could apply toan intellectual property case, concluding that the Trade MarkRegistry is clearly a ‘public authority’ and thatthere are a number of ways in which current practice in respectof well-known individuals could be said to infringe their humanrights. Practical significance. It remains to be seen what the Registry'sresponse will be to such arguments and whether it might in thefuture be possible to obtain protection for the name of a celebrity.     

The illegal trade in black caviar

The trade in caviar has a rich and colorful history, influenced over thousands of years by many cultures, societies and in the last decades by regulation. The value of caviar is historically discovered in the context of social change, political relationships and environmental change. The role of organized crime is described, as the scarcity of caviar has offered the unique opportunity to fish illegally, smuggle and trade contraband to mainly European countries with millions in profits. This study highlights that these criminal networks manifest themselves at all levels of the trade: from the poaching areas where organized criminal groups cooperate with law enforcers and possess top-notch equipment to major smuggling operations in the hands of sophisticated criminal networks. Although due to overexploitation ‘wild caviar’ is increasingly difficult to obtain, the demand in the context of exclusivity and scarcity remains intact by the upper class society desire for edible gold.     

Russia and the illicit arms trade

Since the disintegration of the Soviet militaryindustrial complex, the prospect of conventional armsand nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of massdestruction and their ingredients finding their wayfrom Russia into other hands has become a matter ofconcern for both the Russian Federation and theinternational community. This article explores thescale, forms and consequences of illicit transfers ofconventional arms and weapons of mass destruction andtheir ingredients from the Russian Federation into theinternational community. Russian military and securityforces seem to have been the main sources of a widerange of illicit conventional arms, whether as aconsequence of the participation of Russian armedforces in regional conflicts or as a consequence ofthe sale of equipment by corrupt officers, the covertcommercial export by Russian arms manufacturers beinglargely confined to small arms and light weapons. Theillegal diversion of nuclear, chemical and biologicalmaterials from the Russian Federation seems to havebeen less than was at one time feared but Westernco-operation with the Russian Federation to reinforceexisting nonproliferation regimes remains a highpriority.