International Handbook on Unfair Competition

Written by a worldwide team of experts, this new work surveys and comments on the unfair competition laws of the world's leading economic powers. Following a standard pattern, each chapter introduces the reader to the latest developments in each jurisdiction, highlighting the ways in which the basic legislation and case law relates to enforcement issues, and how unfair competition laws fit with wider considerations of consumer protection and within prevailing intellectual property and competition law frameworks. Each of the country reports follows the same standard structure: I. Background and General Approach to Unfair Competition Law. II. Legal Basis of Unfair Competition Law and Relations to Neighbouring Areas of Law III. General Considerations IV. General Clause Against Unfair Competition V. Marketing V. Protection of Competitors Against Unfair Trade Practices VI. Specific Protection of Consumers Against Unfair Trade Practices VII. Enforcement Country Reports § 1 Australia § 2 Austria § 3 Brazil § 4 Canada § 5 China § 6 France § 7 Germany § 8 Hungary § 9 India § 10 Italy § 11 Japan § 12 Lithuania § 13 Netherlands § 14 Poland § 15 Spain § 16 South Africa § 17 Sweden § 18 Switzerland § 19 Turkey § 20 UK § 21 USA

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents A) General § 1 What is Unfair Competition? § 2 International Protection Against Unfair Competition § 3 Regional Protection Against Unfair Competition B) Country Reports § 1 Australia § 2 Austria § 3 Brazil § 4 Canada § 5 China § 6 France § 7 Germany § 8 Hungary § 9 India § 10 Italy § 11 Japan § 12 Lithuania § 13 Netherlands § 14 Poland § 15 Spain § 16 South Africa § 17 Sweden § 18 Switzerland § 19 Turkey § 20 UK § 21 USA C) Outlook

About the Author :
Frauke Henning-Bodewig is head of a research unit at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property in Munich and professor at the University of Erlangen. The authors are experts from the countries they report on.

Review :
There are at least three broad reasons why this book should be regarded as a welcome addition to any law library. First, it gives easy access to a wide variety of legal jurisdictions, many of whose laws are only comprehensible to those familiar with their respective native languages, to an English-reading audience. In addition, key legal terms in French and German, for example, are identified and explained in English to give the reader a more nuanced understanding of the jurisprudential contours of these legal systems. Furthermore, each country report includes a very substantial bibliography of reference materials relevant to the unfair competition laws of that particular jurisdiction. Secondly, despite the relatively modest length of each country report, the authors have succeeded in providing the reader with a sufficiently comprehensive picture of the different facets of their respective unfair competition law regimes. General clauses in statutes are analysed alongside leading case law from national and, in the case of Europe, supranational tribunals. Activity-specific regulations dealing with diverse practices, from ambush marketing to comparative advertising, and from trademark dilution to consumer protection regulations, are also examined in some detail. Thirdly, through the first few chapters of the book, the editor has done a very commendable job of constructing a helpful conceptual and thematic framework for understanding the many different moving parts that make up the machinery behind each country’s unfair competition laws.