The thesis is devoted to the complex research of the institute of protection of intellectual property rights in the states of the European Union (further - EU) and establishment of harmonization of the legislation of Ukraine to the legislation of the EU in this sphere. The scientific work is one of the first monographic studies on this issue, which reveals the essence and content of the construction of “Intellectual Property rights in the European Union”, the historical genesis of the institution of Intellectual Property protection in the EU, the source system of Intellectual Property and Intellectual Property structures, principles of its protection and defense, conflict regulation, conflict approaches to the regulation of Internet relations in the field of Intellectual Property in EU law.
The purpose and objectives of the study led to the choice of the structure of scientific work, consisting of 3 sections devoted to the concept of “Intellectual Property rights in the EU” and its constituent elements, principles of protection of Intellectual Property rights, conflict regulation and conflict of law in EU law, regulation of Intellectual Property relations on the Internet, as well as the disclosure of the processes of harmonization of Ukrainian legislation with the legislation of the European Union in this area.
Legal relations in the field of protection of Intellectual Property rights in the EU are analyzed as one of the priority areas of research in view of their priority, defined by EU documents in the context of strategic goals of adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU legislation.
The dissertation contains an analysis of the historical analysis of the development of the institute of protection of Intellectual Property rights in the EU.
Based on the study of mechanisms for the protection of Intellectual Property rights in the EU, proposals and recommendations aimed at improving the domestic legal framework in the field of protection of Intellectual Property rights have been developed. The author’s definition of the term “Intellectual Property rights in the EU” is proposed and the constructions “protection of Intellectual Property rights in the EU” and “enforcement of intellectual property in EU law” are distinguished.
Particular attention is drawn to the fact that the rules of EU legislation on the protection of Intellectual Property rights are not applied unanimously by the Member States, which indicates the lack of full harmonization in this area. In particular, there are differences regarding the calculation and compensation of damages in Intellectual Property cases, the duration of court proceedings, their costs, and the degree of specialization of courts. There are other differences in national patent laws, which lead to the unpredictability of resolving patent litigation in almost all Member States, as well as in the national context of the issuance of prior injunctions, access to private information and others.
The study provides a general description of the sources (forms) of Intellectual Property rights in EU law and provides approaches to their classification. It is proved that Intellectual Property rights in the EU are characterized by a “polysystem” of regulatory structure, which makes it difficult to organize its sources into a single consistent system on the basis of a single criterion. An approximate classification of sources of Intellectual Property rights in the EU is proposed.
It is emphasized that the harmonization of EU legislation provided by a legal instrument such as EU directives is an ineffective way of approximating the laws of the Member States, in contrast to EU regulations, which are an instrument of unification of legislation, which completely replaces certain rules of law, norms adopted at the EU level.
It is emphasized that the decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the protection of intellectual property rights is an auxiliary (additional) source of Intellectual Property rights in EU countries.
The constituent elements of Intellectual Property in EU law are thoroughly considered. The author’s classification is also given to the principles of protection and defense of intellectual property rights in the EU.
The issue of conflict regulation of contractual and tortious Intellectual Property relations in the EU law is revealed, the conflict approaches of streamlining of intellectual property relations on the Internet are analyzed.
A critical analysis of the main doctrinal alternative rules of conflict regulation of Intellectual Property relations in the EU, which are the Principles on Conflict of Laws in Intellectual Property – CLIP Principles.
The conducted research allowed developing recommendations aimed at improving the conflict regulation of Intellectual Property relations in the law of the European Union.
