Glimpses of the elephant: constructing European intellectual property

Abstract

‘A book may be good for nothing; or there may be only one thing in it worth knowing; are we to read it all through?’ (Samuel Johnson) This section is dedicated to the review of ideas, articles, books, films and other media. It will include replies (and rejoinders) to articles, the evaluation of new ideas or proposals, and reviews of books and articles both directly and indirectly related to intellectual property law. It would be an understatement to say that ‘intellectual property’ was a vast topic. Adding the qualification ‘European’ does little to reduce that complexity. One is still left with numerous distinct property rights each with their own peculiarities, manifested (if at all) in different ways in 27 Member States and each with a considerable body of academic discussion of its own. Some of these rights can be traced sufficiently far back in time that argument about them can...