Less parochialism: intellectual property in the wider context of international law

Abstract

We live in an age of globalization and the ideas of a global and polycentric law are widespread. It is a truism to state that intellectual property (IP) law is to a very great extent international law. In fact, IP law is probably one the most harmonized fields of domestic substantive law. Although there are numerous books approaching IP from an international and/or comparative perspective, the slant is usually on substantive rules. It is very seldom that the viewpoint of international law (with its specific methodology) is firmly used. The explanation is likely to be that most books on international IP law are written by (and for) IP lawyers rather than by international lawyers. Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan is a well-known IP scholar, but also has a thorough and deep knowledge of international law. This has allowed him to write a book with a clearly distinctive approach to the international law dimension of IP, and one that addresses the dynamics of international law from an IP perspective.