"The construction of intellectual property in the European Union: searching for coherence" [2013] ELECD 200; in Geiger, Christophe (ed), "Constructing European Intellectual Property" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) 5

Book Title: Constructing European Intellectual Property

Editor(s): Geiger, Christophe

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781001639

Section: Chapter 1

Section Title: The construction of intellectual property in the European Union: searching for coherence

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

There is no doubt anymore: European Union law has become the main source of influence on the national laws of the Member States. Today, the European Union constitutes a model of regional legal integration. It has been attributed broad powers by the Member States for the purpose of achieving their common objectives and has set up numerous institutions to implement them. Initially hesitant, the European Union has gradually become interested in intellectual property (‘IP’) and adopted a variety of legislative acts, which were subsequently supplemented by numerous decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the ‘CJEU’). This contributed to the elaboration of a new legal framework in this field, so that it is today possible to speak of a veritable ‘European intellectual property law’. However, this construction has not been systematic but has arisen more or less without organization, often following the agenda of the various institutions. Moreover, as a sign (indeed even proof?) of this lack of unity, there are still very few works that present European intellectual property law in an organized manner. Is such a task impossible given the lack of coherence in European legislative provisions? This is the question that we shall attempt to answer in the following. It is today essential to ask whether the construction is coherent, since this will permit an assessment of the legislation and thus allow us to identify the direction for the future development of intellectual property within the European Union.