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Dissertation
Immaterialgüter- und Wettbewerbsrecht

The Enhancement of International Design Protection: Searching for Rationales and Appropriate Means

This research visit was intended to enhance the preparation of a doctoral thesis on the internationalisation of design protection conducted at CEIPI, University of Strasbourg. The initial focus was on the rationales for further harmonisation of design protection and available means.

Letzte Änderung: 18.04.17

Compared to other IP rights, design rights are known for their limited and sparse presence in international legal framework. Such singularity of design rights has been systematized with comparative insights into the treatment of other IP rights and exemplified through the heterogeneity of selected national provisions. Reasons for such divergence have been sought in two areas in particular: the various acceptances of the notion of diversity in international law, with possible applications to the field of designs, and justifications for protectionist attitudes in the manufacturing sectors where design protection is used, with a review of relevant economic scholarship. To overcome the current heterogeneous situation, the concepts of coherence and harmonisation have been scrutinized, as well as the new possibilities offered by the expansion of the Hague Agreement. Additional insights have been gained based on the observation of several current national reforms in design protection, as well as examples of multiple-State litigation.


This examination has permitted the following partial conclusions:
•    Criticism of design protection should be weighed against the backdrop of contemporary needs for diversity and coherence. These concepts provide justifications and means of interpretation that render the current framework quite appropriate.
•    The system built through the Hague Agreement plays the role of a vehicle for further internationalisation, shaping the future of design protection worldwide, conciliating systems without rendering them uniform.
•    The role of national and regional courts in that respect should be underlined, as they have the difficult task of creating coherence in this complex area.

Personen

Doktorand/in

Natalia Kapyrina

Doktorvater/-mutter

Prof. Dr. Christophe Geiger

Forschungsschwerpunkte

Die Fragmentierung des Internationalen Immaterialgüterrechts