The abuse of intellectual property rights and regulations in China: a law and economic analysis

From the institutional point of view, the legal system of IPR (intellectual property right, hereafter, IPR) is one of incentive institutions of innovation and it plays very important role in the development of economy. According to the law, the owner of the IPR enjoy a kind of exclusive right to use his IP(intellectual property, hereafter, IP), in other words, he enjoys a kind of legal monopoly position in the market. How to well protect the IPR and at the same time to regulate the abuse of IPR is very interested topic in this knowledge-orientated market and it is the basic research question in this dissertation. In this paper, by way of comparing study and by way of law and economic analyses, and based on the Austrian Economics School’s theories, the writer claims that there is no any contradiction between the IPR and competition law. However, in this new economy (high-technology industries), there is really probability of the owner of IPR to abuse his dominant position. And with the characteristics of the new economy, such as, the high rates of innovation, “instant scalability”, network externality and lock-in effects, the IPR “will vest the dominant undertakings with the power not just to monopolize the market but to shift such power from one market to another, to create strong barriers to enter and, in so doing, granting the perpetuation of such dominance for quite a long time.”1 Therefore, in order to keep the order of market, to vitalize the competition and innovation, and to benefit the customer, in EU and US, it is common ways to apply the competition law to regulate the IPR abuse. In Austrian Economic School perspective, especially the Schumpeterian theories, the innovation/competition/monopoly and entrepreneurship are inter-correlated, therefore, we should apply the dynamic antitrust model based on the AES theories to analysis the relationship between the IPR and competition law. China is still a developing country with relative not so high ability of innovation. Therefore, at present, to protect the IPR and to make good use of the incentive mechanism of IPR legal system is the first important task for Chinese government to do. However, according to the investigation reports,2 based on their IPR advantage and capital advantage, some multinational companies really obtained the dominant or monopoly market position in some aspects of some industries, and there are some IPR abuses conducted by such multinational companies. And then, the Chinese government should be paying close attention to regulate any IPR abuse. However, how to effectively regulate the IPR abuse by way of competition law in Chinese situation, from the law and economic theories’ perspective, from the legislation perspective, and from the judicial practice perspective, there is a long way for China to go!

Bewertungsportale im Internet – Meinungsfreiheit versus Datenschutz und Haftungsfragen der Portalbetreiber

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit rechtlichen Fragestellungen rund um Bewertungs-portale im Internet. Zentrale Themen der Arbeit sind dabei die Zulässigkeit der Veröffentlichung der von den Nutzern abgegebenen Bewertungen vor dem Hintergrund möglicherweise entgegenstehender datenschutzrechtlicher Bestimmungen und der Persönlichkeitsrechte der Betroffenen. Des weiteren wird der Rechtsschutz der Betroffenen erörtert und in diesem Zusammenhang die haftungsrechtlichen Risiken der Forenbetreiber untersucht. Gegenstand der Arbeit sind dabei sowohl Online-Marktplätze wie eBay, auf denen sowohl der Bewertende als auch der Bewertete registriert und mit dem Bewertungsverfahren grundsätz-lich einverstanden sind (geschlossene Portale), als auch Portale, auf denen – oftmals unter einem Pseudonym und ohne vorherige Anmeldung – eine freie Bewertungsabgabe, zu Pro-dukteigenschaften, Dienstleistungen bis hinzu Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen des Bewerteten möglich ist (offene Portale). Einleitung und Erster Teil Nach einer Einleitung und Einführung in die Problematik werden im ersten Teil die verschie-denen Arten der Bewertungsportale kurz vorgestellt. Die Arbeit unterscheidet dabei zwischen so genannten geschlossenen Portalen (transaktionsbegleitende Portale wie eBay oder Ama-zon) auf der einen Seite und offenen Portalen (Produktbewertungsportale, Hotelbewertungs-portale und Dienstleistungsbewertungsportale) auf der anderen Seite. Zweiter Teil Im zweiten Teil geht die Arbeit der Frage nach, ob die Veröffentlichung der durch die Nutzer abgegebenen Bewertungen auf den offenen Portalen überhaupt erlaubt ist oder ob hier mögli-cherweise das Persönlichkeitsrecht der Betroffenen und hier insbesondere das Recht auf in-formationelle Selbstbestimmung in Form der datenschutzrechtlichen Bestimmungen die freie Bewertungsabgabe unzulässig werden lässt. Untersucht werden in diesem Zusammenhang im einzelnen Löschungs- bzw. Beseitigungsan-sprüche der Betroffenen aus § 35 Abs. 2 Satz 2 Nr. 1 BDSG bzw. §§ 1004 i. V. m. 823 Abs. 1 BGB (allgemeines Persönlichkeitsrecht). Die Arbeit kommt in datenschutzrechtlicher Hinsicht zu dem Schluss, dass die Bewertungen personenbezogene Daten darstellen, die den datenschutzrechtlichen Bestimmungen unterlie-gen und eine Veröffentlichung der Bewertungen nach dem im deutschen Recht geltenden da-tenschutzrechtlichen Erlaubnisvorbehalt grundsätzlich nicht in Betracht kommt. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser den tatsächlichen Gegebenheiten und Interessenlagen im Internet nicht mehr gerecht werdenden Gesetzeslage diskutiert der Autor sodann die Frage, ob die datenschutzrechtlichen Bestimmungen in diesen Fällen eine Einschränkung durch die grund-gesetzlich garantierten Informationsfreiheiten erfahren müssen. Nach einer ausführlichen Diskussion der Rechtslage, in der auf die Besonderheiten der ein-zelnen Portale eingegangen wird, kommt die Arbeit zu dem Schluss, dass die Frage der Zuläs-sigkeit der Veröffentlichung der Bewertungen von einer Interessenabwägung im Einzelfall abhängt. Als Grundsatz kann jedoch gelten: Ist die bewertete Tätigkeit oder Person in Bezug auf die bewertete Eigenschaft ohnehin einer breiten Öffentlichkeit zugänglich, erscheint eine Veröffentlichung der Daten nicht bedenklich. Dagegen wird man einen Löschungs- bzw. Be-seitigungsanspruch bejahen müssen für die Bewertungen, die Tätigkeiten oder Eigenschaften des Bewerteten, die in keinem Zusammenhang mit ihm als öffentlicher Person stehen, betref-fen. Anschließend geht die Arbeit auf die Persönlichkeitsrechte der Betroffenen und der sich hier-aus ergebenden Beseitigungs- und Unterlassungsansprüchen gemäß der §§ 1004 Abs. 1, 823 Abs. 1 BGB ein, verneint jedoch wegen dem Vorrang der spezialgesetzlichen Bestimmungen aus dem Bundesdatenschutzgesetz letztlich eine Anwendbarkeit der Anspruchsgrundlagen. Schließlich wird in diesem Teil noch kurz auf die Zulässigkeit der Bewertung juristischer Per-sonen eingegangen, die im Grundsatz bejaht wird. Dritter Teil Sofern der zweite Teil der Arbeit zu dem Schluss kommt, dass die Veröffentlichung der Be-wertungen zulässig ist, stellt sich im dritten Teil die Frage, welche Möglichkeiten das Recht dem Bewerteten bietet, gegen negative Bewertungen vorzugehen. Untersucht werden, dabei datenschutzrechtliche, deliktsrechtliche, vertragliche und wettbe-werbsrechtliche Ansprüche. Ein Schwerpunkt dieses Teils liegt in der Darstellung der aktuellen Rechtsprechung zu der Frage wann eine Bewertung eine Tatsachenbehauptung bzw. ein Werturteil darstellt und den sich hieraus ergebenden unterschiedlichen Konsequenzen für den Unterlassungsanspruch des Betroffenen. Diejenigen Bewertungen, die eine Meinungsäußerung darstellen, unterstehen dem starken Schutz der Meinungsäußerungsfreiheit. Grenze der Zulässigkeit sind hier im wesentlichen nur die Schmähkritik und Beleidigung. An Tatsachenbehautpungen dagegen sind schärfere Maßstäbe anzulegen. In diesem Zusammenhang wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob vertragliche Beziehungen zwischen den Beteiligten (Bewertenden, Bewertete und Portalbetreiber) die Meinungsäußerungsfreiheit einschränkt, was jedenfalls für die geschlossenen Portale bejaht wird. Vierter Teil Der vierte Teil der Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit den „Zu-gut-Bewertungen“. Es geht dabei um wettbewerbsrechtliche Ansprüche im Falle verdeckter Eigenbewertungen. Solche Eigenbewertungen, die unter dem Deckmantel der Pseudonymität als Werbemittel zur Imageverbesserung in entsprechenden Bewertungsportale verbreitet werden ohne den wahren Autor erkennen zu lassen, sind in wettbewerbsrechtlicher Hinsicht grundsätzlich unzulässig. Fünfter Teil Im letzten Teil der Arbeit wird schließlich der Frage nach der Verantwortlichkeit der Portal-betreiber für rechtswidrige Bewertungen nachgegangen. Zunächst wird die Feststellung getroffen, dass es sich bei den von den Nutzern abgegebenen Bewertungen um fremde Inhalte handelt und somit die Haftungsprivilegierungen der § 11 Abs. 1 TDG, § 9 Abs. 1 MDStV eingreifen, wonach die Forenbetreiber für die rechtswidrigen Bewertungen jedenfalls so lange nicht verantwortlich sind, solange sie hiervon keine Kenntnis haben. Da von dieser Haftungsprivilegierung nach der Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichtshofs die Störerhaftung nicht umfasst ist, wird die Reichweite die Forenbetreiber aus der Störerhaftung treffenden Überwachungspflichten diskutiert. Die Arbeit kommt hier zu dem Ergebnis, dass in den Fällen, in denen dem Adressaten der Bewertung die Identität des Verfassers bekannt ist, sich die Verpflichtungen der Forenbetrei-ber auf die Beseitigung bzw. Sperrung der rechtswidrigen Bewertung beschränken. Sofern die Identität des Bewertenden unbekannt ist, haften die Forenbetreiber als Mitstörer und dem Be-troffenen stehen Unterlassungsansprüche auch gegen die Forenbetreiber zu.

GERMANY: Creating New Property Rights on the Basis of General Legal Concepts - Without Limits?

In two cases recently decided by two different senates of the German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH), the following issue was raised: To what extent can the filming of sports events organized by someone else, on the one hand, and the photographing of someone else’s physical property, on the other hand, be legally controlled by the organizer of the sports event and the owner of the property respectively? In its “Hartplatzhelden.de” decision, the first senate of the Federal Supreme Court concluded that the act of filming sports events does not constitute an act of unfair competition as such, and hence is allowed even without the consent of the organizer of the sports event in question. However, the fifth senate, in its “Prussian gardens and parks” decision, held that photographing someone else’s property is subject to the consent of the owner of the grounds, provided the photographs are taken from a spot situated on the owner’s property. In spite of their different outcomes, the two cases do not necessarily contradict each other. Rather, read together, they may well lead to an unwanted – and unjustified – extension of exclusive protection, thus creating a new “organizer’s” IP right.

European Community Communications Law : An Introduction

The present article is an abridged version of a chapter to the book EC Electronic Communications and Competition Law (London: Cameron May, 2007). It provides an introduction to the rules at the European Community level governing the electronic communications sector (previously and more traditionally referred to as telecommunications). Such an introduction encompasses essentially an enquiry into the relevant competition law rules, of which here particular attention is paid to abuse of dominant position and the essential facilities doctrine, as well as an analysis of the EC sector specific regulatory framework, which has substantially evolved since the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector back in the beginning of the 1990s. It is the objective of the article to explore to what extent both regulatory tools could deal with the specificities of communications markets, and where they may fail to do so.

Human rights and international trade

Economic globalization and respect for human rights are both highly topical issues. In theory, more trade should increase economic welfare and protection of human rights should ensure individual dignity. Both fields of law protect certain freedoms: economic development should lead to higher human rights standards, and UN embargoes are used to secure compliance with human rights agreements. However the interaction between trade liberalisation and human rights protection is complex, and recently, tension has arisen between these two areas. Do WTO obligations covering intellectual property prevent governments from implementing their human rights obligations, including rights to food or health? Is it fair to accord the benefits of trade subject to a clean human rights record? This book first examines the theoretical framework of the interaction between the disciplines of international trade law and human rights. It builds upon the well-known debate between Professor Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann, who construes trade obligations as human rights, and Professor Philip Alston, who warns of a merger and acquisition of human rights by trade law. From this starting point, further chapters explore the differing legal matrices of the two fields and examine how cooperation between them might be improved, both in international law-making and institutions,in dispute settlement. The interaction between trade and human rights is then explored through seven case studies:freedom of expression and competition law; IP protection and health; agricultural trade and the right to food; trade restrictions on conflict WHO convention on tobacco control; and, finally, human rights conditionalities in preferential trade schemes.

The Jewish Law Firm: Past and Present

The rise and growth of large Jewish law firms in New York City during the second half of the twentieth century was nothing short of an astounding success story. As late as 1950, there was not a single large Jewish law firm in town. By the mid-1960s, six of the largest twenty law firms were Jewish, and by 1980, four of the largest ten prestigious law firms were Jewish firms. Moreover, the accomplishment of the Jewish firms is especially striking because, while the traditional large White Anglo-Saxon Protestant law firms grew at a fast rate during this period, the Jewish firms grew twice as fast, and they did so in spite of experiencing explicit discrimination. What happened? This book chapter is a revised, updated study of the rise and growth of large New York City Jewish law firms. It is based on the public record, with respect to both the law firms themselves and trends in the legal profession generally, and on over twenty in-depth interviews with lawyers who either founded and practiced at these successful Jewish firms, attempted and failed to establish such firms, or were in a position to join these firms but decided instead to join WASP firms. According to the informants interviewed in this chapter, while Jewish law firms benefited from general decline in anti-Semitism and increased demand for corporate legal services, a unique combination of factors explains the incredible rise of the Jewish firms. First, white-shoe ethos caused large WASP firms to stay out of undignified practice areas and effectively created pockets of Jewish practice areas, where the Jewish firms encountered little competition for their services. Second, hiring and promotion discriminatory practices by the large WASP firms helped create a large pool of talented Jewish lawyers from which the Jewish firms could easily recruit. Finally, the Jewish firms benefited from a flip side of bias phenomenon, that is, they benefited from the positive consequences of stereotyping. Paradoxically, the very success of the Jewish firms is reflected in their demise by the early twenty-first century: because systematic large law firm ethno-religious discrimination against Jewish lawyers has become a thing of the past, the very reason for the existence of Jewish law firms has been nullified. As other minority groups, however, continue to struggle for equality within the senior ranks of Big Law, can the experience of the Jewish firms serve as a “separate-but-equal” blueprint for overcoming contemporary forms of discrimination for women, racial, and other minority attorneys? Perhaps not. As this chapter establishes, the success of large Jewish law firms was the result of unique conditions and circumstances between 1945 and 1980, which are unlikely to be replicated. For example, large law firms have become hyper-competitive and are not likely to allow any newcomers the benefit of protected pockets of practice. While smaller “separate-but-equal” specialized firms, for instance, ones exclusively hiring lawyer-mothers occasionally appear, the rise of large “separate-but-equal” firms is improbable.

European Criminal Law and General Principles of Union Law. Research Papers in Law, 5/2005

From the Introduction. The European Court of Justice, partly followed in this by the European legislator, has regulated Community law and policy through a set of general principles of law. For the Community legal order in the first pillar, general legal principles have developed from functional policy areas such as the internal market, the customs union, the monetary union, the common agricultural policy, the European competition policy, etc., which are of great importance for the quality and legitimacy of Community law. The principles in question are not so much general legal principles of an institutional character, such as the priority of Community law, direct effect or Community loyalty, but rather principles of law which shape the fundamental rights and basic rights of the citizen. I refer to the principle of legality, of nulla poena, the inviolability of the home, the nemo tenetur principle, due process, the rights of the defence, etc. Many of these legal principles have been elevated to primary Community law status by the European Court of Justice, often as a result of preliminary questions. Nevertheless, a considerable number of them have also been elaborated in the context of contentious proceedings before the Court of Justice, such as in the framework of European competition law and European public servants law.

Britain’s Political Earthquake: What aftershocks for Europe and the UK? CEPS Commentary, 11 May 2015

In the wake of last week’s elections in Britain, Michael Emerson examines in this CEPS Commentary the implications of the astonishing results for the EU and the UK and outlines a possible reform package that David Cameron might present to the EU institutions and other member states to fulfil his pledge to achieve a “reformed EU”. He also urges the Prime Minister to consider adding a constructive component to his reform package, namely positioning the UK to act once again as a leading proponent of a more effective European foreign, security and defence policy.

Tax Reform Act of 1986.

Cover title.

The Railway act, 1888, with index

At head of title: [51 Victoria] Chapter 29.

Environmental Protection Act.

Description based on: 1981.

The management improvement initiative : progress report to the General Assembly, Public Act 97-0558 /

On August 25, 2011, Governor Pat Quinn signed House Bill 1488 into law, now Public Act 97-0558 (The Act). The Act specifically directs a Management Improvement Initiative Committee (The Committee) to implement recommendations outlined in the January 2011 report to the General Assembly as required under Public Act 96-1141. The Act directs the group, formed under the auspices of Public Act 96-1141, to continue their work based on categories of recommendations. Each recommendation area has the common goal of reviewing providers from redundant monitoring, auditing, and reporting requirements. Implementing the recommendations of the Act will result in efficiency in business process for our providers, reinvestment of dollars saved from inefficient or unrealized administrative costs, and ultimately foster a network of sustainable human services providers in Illinois while increasing the level of direct service by the State agencies, contracted providers, and communities, who are all facing current economic pressures in the fiscal crisis.

A fresh look at S.54(2)

Examines the operation of the provisions of the Law of Property Act 1925 s.54(2) containing an exception to the rule that a deed is required in order to create a valid legal lease and conferring full legal status to short-term letting agreements created by parol, focusing on the requirements that the lease must take effect in possession and must be at the best rent reasonably obtainable without fine. Calls for the former of these two requirements to be amended and the latter abolished on the ground that they give rise to unnecessary complexity in the law and, in the case of the latter, uncertainty.

Perpetually renewable leases:a reappraisal

Analyses cases involving the construction of perpetually renewable leases (PRLs) under the Law of Property Act 1922 s.145 and Sch.15, and the findings of a study into whether the relevant provisions should be repealed. Reviews the problems arising where courts have allowed a perpetually renewable term to be created, the need for an express covenant for renewal and the scope for a human rights challenge to PRLs. Outlines the arguments supporting legislative prohibition of perpetual renewals

A relação entre o direito e a teoria econômica na jurisprudência do cade sobre tabelas médicas

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Direito, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito, 2015.