Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice Advance Access originally published online on May 11, 2006
Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice 2006 1(7):449-457; doi:10.1093/jiplp/jpl060
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© The author (2006). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
State of the Art |
Implementing Community obligations in the realms of intellectual property
*Barrister, Legal Adviser, DTI Legal Services (Adviser to the Patent Office). This article represents the author's own view and not that of the Department of Trade and Industry or the Patent Office. The author, one of the departmental lawyers in Oakley v Animal, has been responsible for implementing a number of Community obligations by way of Regulations under the European Communities Act 1972. He wishes to thank Charles Lewis, at DTI Legal Services, for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article, which is based on an earlier paper presented to the 10th Annual CLT Intellectual Property Litigation Conference, 24 January 2006.
Legal context. The various Acts of Parliament governing UK intellectual property law have been significantly amended to give effect to Community law. This article discusses the powers used by the Secretary of State to implement Community obligations and the Court of Appeal's recent clarification of the scope of those powers.
Key points. This article describes the concerns expressed by some commentators on the scope of the powers under the European Communities Act 1972 and the key cases on that scope, including Oakley v Animal. The article uses the implementation of performers' moral rights as an example of where going beyond strict Community obligations is necessary.
Practical significance. The article will be useful to anyone considering the validity of the changes made to domestic law, including amendments to primary legislation, to implement Directives or other Community obligations.