The Protection of Intellectual Property in a Globalized World

On February 29, 2008 the conference “The Protection of Intellectual Property in a Globalized World” (“Der Schutz Geistigen Eigentums in einer globalisierten Welt”) took place in the Munich Residenz. The conference was initiated jointly by the Bavarian Government and the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC) and aimed to provide the Bavarian Government with information on the international enforcement of intellectual property rights. The conference resulted inter alia in a resolution of the Bundesrat (the Second Chamber of the German Federal Parliament) of October 10, 2008, initiated by the Bavarian Government, in which the Bundesrat asked the German Federal Government to advocate on the European level for better enforcement of intellectual property rights in third countries (Entschließung des Bundesrates zu Maßnahmen der EU zum verbesserten Schutz geistigen Eigentums, GRUR Int. 2008, 1014).

The conference, which was opened by the then-Bavarian Minister for Federal and European Affairs, Dr. Markus Söder, firstly dealt with the protection of patents and trademarks in China and India from an industry perspective. It also discussed free trade agreements and other policy tools as part of the United States’ intellectual property policy. Additionally, the efforts made by China to protect intellectual property were analyzed by the participants, as well as the European approach to protect intellectual property rights in third countries. Finally, participants discussed the degree to which bilateral treaties and better coordination can be used to improve the protection of intellectual property rights on the international level.

The list of speakers comprised the following persons: Prof. Winfried Büttner (Head Corporate IP, Siemens AG); Christopher S. Wilson (Office of the United States Trade Representative); Prof. Li Yuguang (Deputy Commissioner, State Intellectual Property Office of the Peoples’ Republic of China); Klaus-Heiner Lehne (Member of the European Parliament); Prof. Joseph Straus (then Chair Managing Board, MIPLC). The conference was chaired by Theo Koll, anchorman of the TV broadcast Frontal 21 (ZDF).

A report of the conference was published in the GRUR Int. (Klopschinski, Prinz zu Waldeck, GRUR Int. 2008, 393).