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General Issue

The Future of the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Intellectual Property Judgments in Australia

Author

Veronica Sebesfi

The Hague Conference on Private International Law (‘HCCH’) recently concluded a convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. Delegate disagreements meant the final convention left out intellectual property (‘IP’) judgments, which present challenges for conflict of laws rules with their territorial basis, public character, and lack of harmonisation. The HCCH has earmarked for future consideration the issue of private international law principles’ interaction with IP judgments. This article argues Australia should take this opportunity to reconsider its limited approach to recognising and enforcing foreign IP judgments, proposing two amendments which more effectively balance the rights and interests of parties with territoriality concerns. First, non-monetary remedies should be able to be recognised and enforced in certain circumstances. Secondly, the permissible bases of jurisdiction in the international sense should be expanded to enable the enforcement of foreign courts’ judgments concerning validity and infringement of their own state’s IP rights.

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2022 45(4) UNSWLJ 1325: https://doi.org/10.53637/UIAX8054.