In the doctrine, Articles 7(1)(b) to (d) CTMR, which preclude the registration of non-distinctive, descriptive and generic signs, are considered to form a part of a single, indivisible concept of distinctiveness, which is one of the most fundamental concepts in trade mark law. When assessing the distinctiveness of trade marks under these provisions, the CFI and the ECJ insist that all categories o

Considering the urgency in uniformity and harmonization of existing law relating to carriage of goods by sea, the Comité Maritime International (CMI) initiated a joint project with UNCITRAL to achieve more uniformity and to replace the Hague, Hague-Visby and Hamburg Rules which are outdated by now and cannot fully satisfy the needs of modern multimodal transport. The result of this joint project b

Almost a decade ago, human trafficking became an issue of significant attention and a subject of international and regional legislation and initiatives. Human trafficking became a serious challenge for a global community since it involves such aspects as national criminal justice, national borders and immigration control that traditionally had been issues of internal state competence. Therefore, c

Public procurement - which can shortly be explained with the government's activity of purchasing goods and services - presents one of the largest economic markets in the world, accounting, on average, for 15 per cent of the gross national product (GDP) worldwide. One of the most controversially debated issues regarding public procurement is that of procurement linkages. The questions evolve ar

In examining the above subjectmatter, this thesis has necessarily touched on key aspects of both international public and private shipping law regarding ship finance. In doing so, it has necessarily also x-rayed the interaction between ship finance and various other key areas of law such as insolvency law, transnational commercial law, contract law etc. In this wise, the ship finance transaction a

Domestic violence is one of the biggest human rights violations that affect women all over the world regardless of their color, nationality, or age. This problem has reached such a degree that women appear to be more at risk of facing violence inside of the home by a husband or partner, than outside by strangers. However, the traditional view that the State cannot be held responsible for acts of v

The principle of ne bis in idem is one of the fundamental principles recognizing human dignity in criminal procedures. The principle's objective is to convey legal certainty to the individual. It aims to ensure this by prohibiting 'double jeopardy', i.e., an individual cannot be subjected to criminal proceedings more than once for one and the same - allegedly criminal - conduct after o

Today the practice of torture around the world continues being widespread and rampant and Latin America is not far from that reality. Although, many countries in Latin America have overcome civil wars and authoritarian governments that used torture as a means to silence the disagreements of political opponents or to fight against the enemies of the State, the practice of torture continues being pa

The legal environment in the area of patent pools in Europe and the US has experienced significant development over the past few decades. Today, the antitrust treatment of patent pools generally favors patent pools provided they meet a robust set of ex ante antitrust safeguards. Despite some inherent differences in antitrust laws, including rules on technology licensing, both sides of the Atlantic

In August 2008, Georgia was engaged in an internal armed-conflict with its breakaway region of South Ossetia, which shortly after, grew into a large-scale war with Russian Federation. In the course of the war, hundreds of civilians became victims of the international crimes committed by belligerent sides. Hence, the central issue of my research is a post-conflict justice. In particular, if there e

The purpose of this thesis is to criticize the Commission's approach to the application of Article 82 to the exclusionary abuses of the dominant firms. It is a very interesting and hot topic as the attitude of the Commission and the European Courts have many implications on the consumer welfare and total efficiency in common market and innovation capacity and the economic development of the Eu

Financial services sector is fundamental to economic growth and development in all advanced economies. Financial services such as banking, savings and investment, insurance, and debt and equity financing constitute a nation's economic engine by fulfilling three core functions in the economy. Firstly, these services provide financial intermediation functions between savers/investors that are lo

The use of force plays a major role in achieving foreign policy goals. States have resorted to engaging maritime security zones, including naval blockades and maritime exclusion zones, to put pressure on the enemy. In establishing these zones, States are in effect exercising security jurisdiction at sea. Naval blockades aim to prevent sea traffic to and from enemy ports and are enforced through se

The expansion of biotechnology applied to agriculture has drastically changed traditional farming in recent decades. New plant varieties and techniques developed by life-science corporations guarantee more efficiency than traditional methods at relatively low costs. This feature resulted in many biotech creations (such as GM plants) being rapidly adopted by countries with agriculture-based economi

Since 1906, the principle of utmost good faith has been codified into the Marine Insurance Act 1906(MIA 1906) throughout the decision of Carter v. Boehm (1766) 3 Burr. 1905. case. According to Section 17, ''the insurance is uberrimae fidei''. It follows the principle of utmost good faith is the fundamental basis of the marine insurance contract. ''If the utmost good faith b

In view of creating a common area of freedom, security and justice in the European Union, its Member States have increased their cooperation and coordination in the field of border protection and migration management. Over the last years they have focused on the 'external dimension' of border protection and have shifted their border controls away from their territories. They have put into

Due to the globalization with free labour transfer, migrant workers are unavoidably the most targeted group for human trafficking business. Trafficking in persons is a global issue because of its engagement with the international organized crime. Apart from that, as the Protocol on Trafficking in Persons has been in force since 2003, States have turned their attention to the issue and many of them

Copyright law has developed over the last years in such a way that the private interests of right holders are favoured, and users remain in the shadows of the big commercial benefits. There are many advocates for extension of copyright protection as well as for its abolition. This work focuses on the human rights aspect of copyright. It does not claim that copyright protection should be eliminated

The exhaustion doctrine (also known in some jurisdictions as the ''first sale doctrine See U.S. Copyright Code Section 109(a)'') is one of the basic rules of intellectual property (IP) system, and is applied to many IP rights, from copyright to trademark. The term ''exhaustion'' or ''first sale'' describes the concept of this rule, where, after the &