The exploitation of patents as an asset, which may be traded by way of assignment, licensing or as security, has become increasingly important. In this regard, Art. 7 of the new EU Regulation No. 1257/2012 of 17 December 2012 on unitary patent protection provides that, as an object of property,...

Private enforcement of the European Union's rules on competition (Arts. 101, 102 TFEU) has become prominent as a counterpart to their public enforcement. Mostly, it is identified with tort actions brought under EU-harmonized national law by individuals claiming compensation for the harm suffered...

German Abstract: Art. 11 AEUV verlangt von den Organen der Europäischen Union, dass sie die Erfordernisse des Umweltschutzes bei der Festlegung und Durchführung der Unionspolitiken und -maßnahmen insbesondere zur Förderung einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung einbeziehen. Dieses Kohärenzgebot...

Technological progress generally is not disruptive but sequential. Innovations build on prior innovations, typically by presenting improvements or complements. Under patent law, such follow-on innovation meets with an obstacle if the use of the invention underlying it infringes a prior patent,...

The European Union has established an almost complete system of protection of intellectual property, in part by harmonizing the laws of its Member States, in part by creating its own titles of unitary protection, in the fields of trade marks, designs and patents even by both harmonization and...

The paper represents the comments of the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law on the Draft Commission Regulation on the application of Art. 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to categories of research and development agreements and...