Emerging Issues in International Intellectual Property Law
International intellectual property protection is key to promoting technological progress, innovation and sustainable economic growth. Weak intellectual property protection or differing protection standards across jurisdictions create severe obstacles to international trade, investment and the global diffusion of innovation. Yet, states have divergent economic and non-economic interests that affect the application and interpretation of intellectual property law on the national level and create complex international legal challenges. A comprehensive academic debate from a truly global perspective on these increasingly important questions is missing.
The 2025 Salzburg International Intellectual Property Conference, organised in a long-term co-operation of the University of Salzburg School of Law, the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law (Sacramento/USA), and the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) School of Law (Chennai/India) created a forum for exploring emerging issues of international IP law. The conference provided the unique opportunity to discuss pertinent questions of patent, trademark and copyright law among scholars, practitioners, and students from the Global North and the Global South.
The volume presented herewith contains a carefully selected collection of contributions to the conference. They are authored by scholars in the Global North and the Global South and address topical issues in international intellectual property law, covering patent, trademark and copyright law, but also new issues, such as IP law and human rights, or IP law and international investment law. The volume reflects the stimulating and, at times, challenging discussions that characterized the conference, and offers valuable comparative perspectives while promoting greater mutual understanding across legal systems.
Dr. Gudrun Zagel, LL.M. (Austin) is an assistant professor at the Department of Legal Theory, International Law, and European Law at the University of Salzburg. Her work focuses on international economic law and its intersections with non-economic areas of law, such as human rights, environmental protection, climate change, and sustainable development. She is a co-founder of the Salzburg International Intellectual Property Fall School and Conference.
RA Hon.-Prof. Dr. Clemens Thiele, LL.M. Tax (GGU) is a Fulbright scholar in U.S. tax law and has practiced as an attorney in Austria, Germany, and the United States. He is the founder of the law firm EUROLAWYER® in Salzburg and an honorary professor at the University of Salzburg. He has authored and edited numerous publications on IP and IT law, and serves as a court-certified expert witness on copyright matters of all kinds.
MMag. DDr. Patrick Warto researches and teaches at the Department of Labour and Business Law at the Faculty of Law and Business Sciences of the University of Salzburg. His main areas of focus are corporate law and competition law, alongside research interests in corporate reorganization law, intellectual property law, and legal didactics. He is the author of numerous scholarly publications in these fields.