intellectual property

International trademark law: the Madrid System

Guide to the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks, by Vicenç Feliú, Associate Dean for Library Services and Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law. Published on New York University's Globalex website and updated periodically, it explains registration of trademarks under the Madrid System, which is based on the Madrid Agreement and Madrid Protocol.

Copyright & Fair Use

Website providing information about copyright and fair use for librarians and academics, run by Stanford University Libraries. Includes copyright FAQs, guidance on copyright research and information about permissions, the public domain, fair use and releases. There is a  Law section with US legislation and cases as well as international treaties. A collection of tools includes a copyright flowchart, a digital copyright slider, a digital image rights calculator, a fair use evaluator and many more practical resources.

Free Culture

Website devoted to the book 'Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity' by Professor Lawrence Lessig of Stanford Law School. Published in 2004, it is available here under a Creative Commons licence. The book covers the effect of the internet on commercial and non-commercial culture and the increasing regulation that comes with the digitisation of culture. There are sections looking at the concepts of piracy and property and a discussion of the Eldred v. Ashcroft case with which Prof. Lessig was involved.

Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management

Website of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) at Bournemouth University, which .carries out postgraduate teaching, policy research and consultancy, with a particular focus on IP aspects of the creative sector and new technology. The CIPPM / Jean Monnet Working Papers series is available on the site, together with abstracts of the Centre's other publications. The Tools section includes the Observatory on DSM Directive Exceptions  & Limitations. Details of courses, research projects and events are also provided.

Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions

This section of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website provides information on the protection of indigenous peoples' traditional knowledge (TK), genetic resources (GR) and traditional cultural expressions (TCE). There are details of the work being undertaken to safeguard, record and digitize cultural heritage. Documentation and decisions from the conferences, meetings and seminars of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore are also provided.

Antique Rare IP Library e-Treatise Reading Room

Online collection of digitised intellectual property publications from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, on the website of the Franklin Pierce Law Center, an independent US law school. Around 250 items are available, in pdf format, on copyright, patents, trademarks or general IP law. The collection includes books, articles, speeches, laws, digests and judgments; the main focus is on the law of the UK and US, but some other jurisdictions are also covered. 

Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria

Official website of the Bulgarian Patent Office, with registers of patents, trade marks and geographical indications (et cetera) and a database of decisions. The 'IP Objects' page provides information about patents, designs, trade marks and related topics, including relevant legislation (in English). 'The official bulletin of the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria' is available, together with a collection of reports (all in Bulgarian) and there is an information page for SMEs.

Canada Patents, 1869-1919

Database of patents issued to Canadian residents and citizens between 1869 and 1919, provided by Library and Archives Canada. Over 190,000 digitised patents are available, searchable by patent number, patent holder, title, year and city, province or state. Results are displayed in summary format with links to the complete scanned image. The resource is available in either English or French.

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