This essential guide vital new changes by the European Commission to the law governing the enforceability of intellectual property licences in Europe. Agreements which contain the grant of a licence by one party to another of intellectual property rights are subject to European competition (anti-trust) laws. In particular, many agreements containing licences of patent rights and rights in confidential information and technical know-how are caught by Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty, which prohibits agreements between undertakings which prevent, restrict or distort competition in the Common Market. However, because licences of intellectual property rights usually facilitate the transfer of technology from one undertaking to another, and the licensor and licensee will often operate at different levels of the market, many licences of intellectual property rights may benefit from an automatic exemption under Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty. On 1 May 2004, this exemption is being radically overhauled, as part of the European Commission's drive to modernise European competition law. This book examines the changes in that legislation.

About the Author
Dr Duncan Curley trained and qualified in the intellectual property department of a 'magic circle' law firm in London, eventually becoming a partner at the international law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery. He set up his own law firm - Innovate Legal - in June 2007, specialising in advice to companies operating in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. Dr Curley has appeared in a number of high profile cases throughout his career, including Lenzing v Courtaulds (judicial review of a decision by the European Patent Office), Bespak v 3M (patent revocation proceedings concerning metered dose inhalers) and BioProgress v Stanelco (patent dispute concerning drug encapsulation technology). He is the author of over fifty published articles and his first book - Intellectual Property Licences and Technology Transfer (published by Chandos) - is the leading practical textbook on the impact of European competition law on technology licensing and the block exemption.

Reviews
"...the work is lucid and helpful." --World Competition



Book Information
ISBN 9781843340898
Author Duncan Curley
Format Paperback
Page Count 356
Imprint Chandos Publishing (Oxford) Ltd
Publisher Woodhead Publishing Ltd
Weight(grams) 610g