A forum of experts is today meeting with the World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO), the United Nations body, to consider
questions of jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgements
overseas in light of the growth in e-commerce.
The experts will discuss private international law aspects of
intellectual property protection and also consider e-commerce
disputes and the role of alternative dispute resolution
procedures.
The question of applicable law is a priority issue in copyright
in cyberspace given the ease and speed with which it is possible to
digitally transmit perfect copies of copyrighted materials to and
from anywhere in the world with or without the authorisation of the
copyright holder.
WIPO observes that choice of law issues have also assumed an
increasing importance for industrial property rights, and in
particular for trade mark rights. As markets have become
increasingly global, the traditional system of granting trademark
protection within the territory of individual states has come under
considerable pressure.
The WIPO Forum will discuss intellectual property aspects of a
Preliminary Draft Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgements
in Civil and Commercial Matters prepared under the auspices of the
Hague Conference on Private International Law ("Hague
Conference").
In particular, experts will consider those provisions with a
bearing on the resolution of intellectual property disputes. At
present, the draft provides that trade mark owners can bring
infringement proceedings in the country of registration. This means
that a small business owning a registered trade mark in one country
could be at risk by using the trade mark on its web site unless it
can be sure that there are no conflicting trade marks registered in
other countries – which could be financially impossible without
significant resources. This is one of the concerns that WIPO seeks
to address.
The Hague Conference is planning to organise a Diplomatic
Conference in the near future.
