Martin Senftleben – författare

European Trade Mark Law provides a coherent and authoritative commentary on both the substantive and procedural aspects of European trade mark law. It presents an integrated picture of the two major trade mark law provisions at EU level: the Community Trade Mark Regulation (CMTR), which provides for the registration and protection of a Europe-wide mark; and the Trade Mark Directive (TMD), which aims to harmonise national trade mark laws. The book''s core focus is the Community texts and case law, and it offers a detailed analysis of the CMTD and TMD, as well as practical discussion of the procedure for registering, maintaining, and challenging a trade mark through the European Trade Mark Office and at the national level. It considers how national laws have been successfully harmonised by the TMD, and where they differ significantly from others in their implementation of the Directive. Written by one of the leading trade mark lawyers in Europe, this is an invaluable reference for both academics and practitioners in this complex and rapidly developing area of law.

European Trade Mark Law provides a coherent and authoritative commentary on both the substantive and procedural aspects of European trade mark law. It presents an integrated picture of the two major trade mark law provisions at EU level: the Community Trade Mark Regulation (CMTR), which provides for the registration and protection of a Europe-wide mark; and the Trade Mark Directive (TMD), which aims to harmonise national trade mark laws. The book''s core focus is the Community texts and case law, and it offers a detailed analysis of the CMTD and TMD, as well as practical discussion of the procedure for registering, maintaining, and challenging a trade mark through the European Trade Mark Office and at the national level. It considers how national laws have been successfully harmonised by the TMD, and where they differ significantly from others in their implementation of the Directive. Written by one of the leading trade mark lawyers in Europe, this is an invaluable reference for both academics and practitioners in this complex and rapidly developing area of law.

This volume offers a detailed analysis of the issues related to the protection of non-traditional marks. In recent years, the domain of trademark law and the scope of trademark protection has grown exponentially. Today, a wide variety of non-traditional marks, including colour, sound, smell, and shape marks, can be registered in many jurisdictions. However, this expansion of trademark protection has led to heated discussions and controversies about the impact of the protection of non-traditional marks on freedom of competition and, more generally, on socially valuable use of these or similar signs in unrelated non-commercial contexts. These tensions have also led to increasing litigation in this area across several jurisdictions. This book provides an overview of the debate and state of the law surrounding non-traditional marks at the international, regional, and national level. In particular, this book addresses relevant international treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects to Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as well as several regional and national legislations and leading judicial decisions in order to examine current law and practice culminating in critical reflections and suggestions on the topic. This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

This volume offers a detailed analysis of the issues related to the protection of non-traditional marks. In recent years, the domain of trademark law and the scope of trademark protection has grown exponentially. Today, a wide variety of non-traditional marks, including colour, sound, smell, and shape marks, can be registered in many jurisdictions. However, this expansion of trademark protection has led to heated discussions and controversies about the impact of the protection of non-traditional marks on freedom of competition and, more generally, on socially valuable use of these or similar signs in unrelated non-commercial contexts. These tensions have also led to increasing litigation in this area across several jurisdictions. This book provides an overview of the debate and state of the law surrounding non-traditional marks at the international, regional, and national level. In particular, this book addresses relevant international treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects to Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as well as several regional and national legislations and leading judicial decisions in order to examine current law and practice culminating in critical reflections and suggestions on the topic.This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

This Handbook analyses pressing legal and policy issues that have arisen in the rapidly changing media ecosystem: from threats to media freedom and pluralism and the safety of journalists to challenges arising from the shift to platform-based communication, the spread of disinformation and the impact of AI on media and news production. Seeking to pave the way for new, integrated regulatory responses, the individual chapters address legal and policy developments from an overarching perspective that includes insights from human rights law, media law and copyright law. Following this holistic approach, the Handbook identifies common principles for a coherent regulatory framework for news and media in Europe. It evaluates existing laws and media governance institutions in light of the economic, technological and political challenges posed to the media sector. The individual contributions present new directions for an integrated approach to European media law and policy. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

This Handbook analyses pressing legal and policy issues that have arisen in the rapidly changing media ecosystem: from threats to media freedom and pluralism and the safety of journalists to challenges arising from the shift to platform-based communication, the spread of disinformation and the impact of AI on media and news production. Seeking to pave the way for new, integrated regulatory responses, the individual chapters address legal and policy developments from an overarching perspective that includes insights from human rights law, media law and copyright law. Following this holistic approach, the Handbook identifies common principles for a coherent regulatory framework for news and media in Europe. It evaluates existing laws and media governance institutions in light of the economic, technological and political challenges posed to the media sector. The individual contributions present new directions for an integrated approach to European media law and policy. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

The three-step test - by which limitations on exclusive copyrights are confined to ''certain special cases'' which do not conflict with a ''normal exploitation of the work'' and do not ''unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author''- is among the most enduring of standards affecting limitations on intellectual property rights. Its field of application is the delicate balance between exclusive rights and sufficient breathing space for the free flow of ideas and information. However, the emerging information society has thrown numerous unforeseen obstacles in the once-clear path of its implementation. Can the traditional balance between grants and reservations of copyright law be recalibrated along the lines of the three-step test in order to meet current and future needs? Controversies over this crucial question - in Europe, the U.S., Australia, and elsewhere, as well as in two significant WTO panels in 2002 - have brought the three-step test into focus, the essential principle governing copyright limitations in the information society. Investigating the development, structure, and function of the three-step test in international copyright law with thoroughness and precision, Copyright, Limitations and the Three-Step Test offers a close and insightful analysis of its continuing utility for the twenty-first century. The book includes: viable restatements of the rationales of copyright protection for the emerging IP environment; new insights into the relationship between copyright protection and copyright limitations; in-depth explanation of the structure and functioning of the three-step test; detailed interpretations of each criterion of the test; discussion of the two WTO panel reports dealing with the test; a proposal for the further improvement of the copyright system and the international rules governing copyright law; detailed information about international conference material concerning the test; and discussion of potential future trends in copyright law. The author provides many examples that demonstrate the test''s impact on different types of limitations, such as private use privileges and the U.S. fair use doctrine. He explains the test''s role in the European Copyright Directive. The detailed examination and explanation of the three-step test will be of extraordinary value to policymakers, judges, and lawyers in the field of intellectual property law seeking to react adequately to the challenges of the digital environment.

The Copyright/Trademark Interface

How the Expansion of Trademark Protection Is Stifling Cultural Creativity

Martin Senftleben

The registration of cultural icons as trademarks has become a standard protection strategy in the field of contemporary cultural productions and plays an ever-increasing role in the area of cultural heritage. Attempts to register and ‘evergreen’ the protection of cultural signs, ranging from ‘Mickey Mouse’ to the ‘Mona Lisa’, are no longer unusual. This phenomenon – characterized by the EFTA Court as trademark registrations motivated by ‘commercial greed’ – has become typical of an era where trademark law is employed strategically to withhold or remove cultural symbols from the public domain. In an extraordinary analysis of the clash between culture and commerce, and imbalances caused by protection overlaps arising from cumulative copyright and trademark protection, this book draws attention to the corrosive effect of indefinitely renewable trademark rights and underscores the necessity to safeguard central preconditions for the proper functioning of the copyright system in society at large: the freedom to use pre-existing works as reference points for the artistic discourse and building blocks for new creations, and the need to ensure the constant enrichment of the public domain.

Emphasizing how overlapping copyright and trademark protection endangers the proper functioning of intellectual property rights in the literary and artistic domain, the author examines whether the intellectual property system is capable of mitigating the risks arising from cumulative protection. Such issues and topics as the following are treated in depth:

the different configuration of intellectual property rights in accordance with different policy objectives and societal functions, in particular the cultural imperative in copyright law and the market transparency imperative in trademark law; problems arising from the registration of cultural icons for use on souvenir and merchandising articles; lack of sufficient safeguards in trademark law against cultural heritage branding; current scope of trademark rights, including the protection of brand value and communication functions, and the deterrent effect of trademark protection on cultural creativity; possibility of a categorical exclusion of contemporary cultural icons and cultural heritage material from trademark protection; development of a strict gatekeeper requirement of ‘use as a mark’ to prevent unjustified trademark infringement claims; development of robust, culturally based defences against trademark infringement claims; and general guidelines for the regulation of protection overlaps in intellectual property law, based on insights derived from the analysis of copyright/trademark overlaps.

Drawing on aesthetic, sociological and economic theories that support initiatives to safeguard the autonomy of the literary and artistic domain and support remix activities of artists, the author suggests sound criteria for identifying signs with cultural significance that should be excluded from trademark registration. The book shows how intellectual property law can make rights cumulation strategies less attractive and avoid the loss of inner consistency and social legitimacy, easing the tension between indefinitely renewable trademark rights and the need to preserve and cultivate the public domain of cultural expressions and other intellectual creations that enjoy protection for a limited period of time, such as industrial designs and technical know-how. Its assessment criteria will assist and enable trademark examiners and judges to identify relevant cultural signs, and its proposals for regulatory responses to protection overlaps in intellectual property law will prove of great and lasting value to lawyers, policymakers, and scholars dealing with intellectual property law.

 

The Copyright/Trademark Interface

How the Expansion of Trademark Protection Is Stifling Cultural Creativity

Martin Senftleben

The registration of cultural icons as trademarks has become a standard protection strategy in the field of contemporary cultural productions and plays an ever-increasing role in the area of cultural heritage. Attempts to register and ‘evergreen’ the protection of cultural signs, ranging from ‘Mickey Mouse’ to the ‘Mona Lisa’, are no longer unusual. This phenomenon – characterized by the EFTA Court as trademark registrations motivated by ‘commercial greed’ – has become typical of an era where trademark law is employed strategically to withhold or remove cultural symbols from the public domain. In an extraordinary analysis of the clash between culture and commerce, and imbalances caused by protection overlaps arising from cumulative copyright and trademark protection, this book draws attention to the corrosive effect of indefinitely renewable trademark rights and underscores the necessity to safeguard central preconditions for the proper functioning of the copyright system in society at large: the freedom to use pre-existing works as reference points for the artistic discourse and building blocks for new creations, and the need to ensure the constant enrichment of the public domain.

Emphasizing how overlapping copyright and trademark protection endangers the proper functioning of intellectual property rights in the literary and artistic domain, the author examines whether the intellectual property system is capable of mitigating the risks arising from cumulative protection. Such issues and topics as the following are treated in depth:

the different configuration of intellectual property rights in accordance with different policy objectives and societal functions, in particular the cultural imperative in copyright law and the market transparency imperative in trademark law; problems arising from the registration of cultural icons for use on souvenir and merchandising articles; lack of sufficient safeguards in trademark law against cultural heritage branding; current scope of trademark rights, including the protection of brand value and communication functions, and the deterrent effect of trademark protection on cultural creativity; possibility of a categorical exclusion of contemporary cultural icons and cultural heritage material from trademark protection; development of a strict gatekeeper requirement of ‘use as a mark’ to prevent unjustified trademark infringement claims; development of robust, culturally based defences against trademark infringement claims; and general guidelines for the regulation of protection overlaps in intellectual property law, based on insights derived from the analysis of copyright/trademark overlaps.

Drawing on aesthetic, sociological and economic theories that support initiatives to safeguard the autonomy of the literary and artistic domain and support remix activities of artists, the author suggests sound criteria for identifying signs with cultural significance that should be excluded from trademark registration. The book shows how intellectual property law can make rights cumulation strategies less attractive and avoid the loss of inner consistency and social legitimacy, easing the tension between indefinitely renewable trademark rights and the need to preserve and cultivate the public domain of cultural expressions and other intellectual creations that enjoy protection for a limited period of time, such as industrial designs and technical know-how. Its assessment criteria will assist and enable trademark examiners and judges to identify relevant cultural signs, and its proposals for regulatory responses to protection overlaps in intellectual property law will prove of great and lasting value to lawyers, policymakers, and scholars dealing with intellectual property law.

 

Renowned intellectual property law expert Bernt Hugenholtz once warned, chiding the voracity of copyright, that reducing the subject matter test to mere originality and personal stamp might lead to ‘infinite expansion of the concept of the work of authorship. Anything touched by human hand, including for instance sports performances, would be deemed a work’. Indeed, the applicability of copyright law on sports events and players’ moves is one of the many topics discussed in this volume, which spans issues from those related to players and their performances and achievements, via those relevant to sports event organisers and clubs, to questions concerning event reporting and data and the growing role of AI technologies in sports.

Well-known authorities in intellectual property law speculate on the nexus of sports and intellectual property in its widest sense, elucidating such aspects as the following:

neighbouring rights for organisers of sports events; ethnic and cultural references in team and league branding; legality of reselling event tickets; use of artificial intelligence in refereeing; related rights protection of images; e-sports and fantasy leagues; and sports celebrities and character merchandising.

There are also several intriguing comparative chapters on intellectual property aspects in such parallel domains as body art, movement, carnivals, choreography, and chess.

Both profound and entertaining, this unique volume will be appreciated by practitioners, jurists, and academics interested in intellectual property rights as well as in sports law.

Renowned intellectual property law expert Bernt Hugenholtz once warned, chiding the voracity of copyright, that reducing the subject matter test to mere originality and personal stamp might lead to ‘infinite expansion of the concept of the work of authorship. Anything touched by human hand, including for instance sports performances, would be deemed a work’. Indeed, the applicability of copyright law on sports events and players’ moves is one of the many topics discussed in this volume, which spans issues from those related to players and their performances and achievements, via those relevant to sports event organisers and clubs, to questions concerning event reporting and data and the growing role of AI technologies in sports.

Well-known authorities in intellectual property law speculate on the nexus of sports and intellectual property in its widest sense, elucidating such aspects as the following:

neighbouring rights for organisers of sports events; ethnic and cultural references in team and league branding; legality of reselling event tickets; use of artificial intelligence in refereeing; related rights protection of images; e-sports and fantasy leagues; and sports celebrities and character merchandising.

There are also several intriguing comparative chapters on intellectual property aspects in such parallel domains as body art, movement, carnivals, choreography, and chess.

Both profound and entertaining, this unique volume will be appreciated by practitioners, jurists, and academics interested in intellectual property rights as well as in sports law.