The Extraterritorial Enforcement of IPR Rulings: Coming Soon?
Introduction
The Hague Conference on International Law (HCCH), is an intergovernmental organisation made up of 82-member countries that drafts and administers private international law conventions. The HCCH has drafted a Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgements in Civil or Commercial Matters that, once ratified, would require courts in signatory states to enforce relevant judgements from each others’ courts, without the need for separate proceedings on the substance.
A HCCH Diplomatic session on 18 June-2 July 2019 aims to adopt the draft convention. One of the outstanding and contentious questions, that will go before the Diplomatic session, is whether intellectual property rights or analogous rights should fall within the scope of the new Convention and therefore be eligible for recognition and enforcement. The draft Convention does not specifically list the rights covered but these can be expected to include both registered patents, trademarks, designs, copyrights or related rights, geographic indications and utility models, as well as unregistered rights.
