LAW5628 International and comparative trademark law

This unit will provide an overview of the obligations under international law to provide protection to trade marks and a comparison of selected, key aspects of trade mark protection in Australia, the United States and the EU. Consequently, in relation to international law, it will examine the trade mark aspects of the TRIPS agreement (including consideration of geographical indications) and the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy of ICANN relating to domain names. To a lesser extent, the unit will deal with the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Madrid Protocol relating to multiple filings of trade mark applications. Selected, key aspects of comparison will include issues such as jurisdiction specific approaches to ownership, the requirements for registrability of trade marks such as shape trade marks and the different approaches to infringement, including dilution of trade marks and parallel importing. Other topics may include the registration and control of domain names. It is likely that, in light of Australian legislation and WTO challenges, the unit will also critically examine the arguments of the tobacco industry that international trade mark obligations prevent the implementation of plain packaging of cigarettes.