TRADE MARK LICENSING: AT LAST, THE SEQUEL

The IPKat has been kept on the tips of his paws, impatiently awaiting the second edition of Neil J. Wilkof's iconic work Trade Mark Licensing (Sweet & Maxwell). Happy to say, this title has now emerged and Neil, with the help of various friends, has produced an even better work than the original -- which was unleashed on an unsuspecting readership of private practitioners and in-house attorneys ten long years ago.

As the publishes boast on their web-blurb:

"Trade Mark Licensing provides a completely rounded perspective on the subject, integrating discussion of legal concepts with extensive advice on practical concerns. The new edition has been completely updated, including expanded sections on the EU dimension of trade mark licensing, merchandising, certification marks,and taxation (including treatment under US law)".

Neil's width of interest and depth of analysis are reflected in new chapters dealing with (i) the impact of TRIPs on trade mark licensing, (ii) new chapters on German, French and Benelux law which, the IPKat adds, should never have been necessary if total harmonisation of Europe's trade mark regimes had been secured, and (iii) special coverage of trade mark licensing aspects of the internet

A practitioner who has not forsaken the demands and intellectual rigours of thery, Neil (who himself also teaches Law at Haifa University) has taken on a co-author in Daniel Burkett, Research Associate at the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre and an enthusiastic copyright and competition lawyer. Some of the other chapters have been contributed by Christopher Stothers (Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, London), Asim Singh (Sokolow Carreras, Paris) and Julie Le Bars (Nataf Fajgenbaum, Paris), Ludwig Kauker (Boehmert & Boehmert, Bremen) and tax specialist Nigel Eastaway (Chiltern plc, London). Nonetheless Neil's influence is felt throughout.

At £135 this hardback may seem dear to some, but it packs a lot of punch and is well worth the outlay. The reader has more than 450 pages of substance to read before he hits the Appendices: that's a lot for a book on this subject.