This thesis examines procedural litigation problems arising when two parties have a conflict involving the same patent or design, with an impact in several jurisdictions, taking as a case study the litigation procedures of Apple and Samsung. The thesis asks whether this type of dispute is best resolved through a single procedure. If so, what would be the circumstances surrounding such procedure in terms of jurisdiction, applicable law, preliminary injunctions and enforcement of the decisions? It first identifies the problems related to the type of dispute when taking parallel actions in different National Courts. Then it examines the European litigation procedure of patents and designs and assesses how this system addresses the inconsistency of the national litigation regime. It argues that in relation to patents, the Unitary Patent Court (UPC) has the potential to solve some of the problems identified in the thesis and that a similar unitary system should be extended to disputes involving designs. However, in the absence of an effective international court system outside the EU for global disputes, it suggests that a single arbitration procedure is still needed. The thesis identifies the main legal barriers to an arbitration procedure as being: bringing the parties to arbitrate, the arbitrability of the dispute, the identification of applicable law and the need for preliminary injunctions. It is concluded that: the agreement to arbitrate should be facilitated by the authorities so that it is appealing to the parties; the arbitrability can be resolved by limiting the effect of the judgment to the parties; a flexible approach can be adopted to applicable law through the application by the arbitrator of ‘choice of law’ rules; and, even when a preliminary injunction is needed, the parties may recur to arbitration. The thesis concludes that the primary benefit of a single arbitration procedure would be the creation of a single award enforceable at international level.

This thesis seeks to explore and map the public domain, conceived as an area free from the constraints of law and contract, in relation to information on open, publicly accessible websites. The existing rich literature concerning the ‘public domain’ focuses largely on the impact of the intellectual property regime. By adopting a novel conceptualisation of the public domain as freedom from law and contract, the thesis offers a broader perspective on freedoms and limitations on the use of information. While the existing ‘public domain’ literature does address the possibility for freedoms in relation to the use of information to be narrowed by contract, it focuses on the second order question of enforceability of terms. The first order question concerning the implications of the rules of contract formation is not thoroughly explored, a lack that this thesis seeks to address. The thesis relies on the contract law requirement of exchange to tease out both aspects of the public domain, that is, freedom from law and contract. In the process it addresses a significant gap in case law and literature, namely, the character of the benefit conferred by the website on the user. Relying on insights derived from the ruling of the European Court of Justice in Svensson the thesis offers a novel conceptualisation of the benefit and the mechanism of its conferral in order to explore the contractual significance of the exchange. The thesis suggests that the scope of the public domain is periled on the characterisation of the website’s response to the user’s request for content. It presents a contrasting account of the public domain according to two different characterisations of the website’s response, offering reasons to prefer the account of the public domain that best preserves freedom to look.

The reforms initiated in the global energy industry since the late 1980s have been seen as phenomenal and radical. In the main, the changes are perceived as the manifestation of the inexorable retreat of the state, apparently due to its failings, from the energy business. This thesis argues that the real position in the industry is not conterminous with that postulate. The unique character of the energy industry guarantees that the state's influence may change, but not swept away. Even when methods change, the objectives of state participation - efficiency, equity and stability - remain unalterable. This is demonstrated in three forms: First, domestic regulation of the industry, second, the exploitation of energy resource from a source shared by two or more countries, and third, international trade in energy. Indeed, the ubiquitous presence of the state in the energy industry has yielded varying results in different countries, and as in the case of Ghana, for different utilities. This thesis proposes that good governance is the critical variable that accounts for the difference. The need for stable governance, not characterised by the endurance of dictatorship, but exhibited in the form of competitive democracy, effective bureaucracy, rule of law, discretion and decentralisation, form the macro foundation for the efficient, equitable and stable operation of the energy business.

Traditionally, trademarks were considered as convenient tools for source identification, and were granted legal recognition on this premise. However, more recently, trademarks have evolved in a new yet challenging medium as an effective tool for both corporate and social communication. The changing nature of trademarks and the subsequent emergence of modern trademark functions have prompted legal change within the European Union. Whilst this result is not in itself surprising, the approach adopted within the EU for the integration of the modern functions into the European trademark system has raised justifiable concerns on whether the balance of the trademark system has been disrupted. Given the dilemma, this thesis aimed to evaluate and critique the current system for modern trademark protection in Europe, and to propose change accordingly. To achieve this objective, the thesis used the luxury fashion industry as an analytical tool capable of reflecting accurately the various dimensions of the modern functions, particularly those aspects which are often overlooked within the legal spectrum. Only when the modern functions were fully comprehended, a proposal for a sound, balanced system for protection which takes into account the interests of all players in the market became plausible. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the thesis showed that the significance of trademarks lies within its communicative value which in turn has three dimensions; brand-consumer communication, consumer-consumer communication, and consumer-public communication. The effective protection of the modern functions necessitates the recognition of all these three facets. The thesis argued that theoretically, the protection of the brand-consumer communication dimension can be normatively justified based on a misappropriation ground through a limited, well-articulated anti-freeriding provision. In practice, Article 5(2) if interpreted in the light of the free-riding rationale suggested, can provide sufficient safeguards for the protection of brand-consumer communication. While such approach may simultaneously advance the communicative interest of some consumers (consumers of the particular brand), it falls short from protecting the broader public interest in communicating through trademarks. To fully preserve the other dimensions of trademark communicative, an effective expressive use defence which preserves the right of the public to transform, act on, criticise, resist, or challenge traditional brand meanings is crucial. Conclusively, disregarding any of these dimensions, which is regrettably the case now, will necessarily disrupt the balance of the trademark system and will simultaneously empower brand owners to manipulate consumer demand.

This thesis involves an examination of the main international, regional and national legal regimes regulating marine renewable energy in England and Wales. Deriving from a complex patchwork of law and policy, developments have ensued in the absence of a distinct governing ‘legal regime’ and within a number of competing paradigms. This original synthesis attempts to identify lacunae, conflicts and connections within and between the span of legal genres that MRE evokes. Against a backdrop of climate change mitigation, the key findings show that despite the presence of political will for offshore renewable energies, MRE development faces a number of legal obstacles, all of which seek to protect other important public and private interests. Although predominantly satisfactory at the international level (international law of the sea), national private property rights, environmental protection laws and regulatory development controls each encompass particular legal incongruities that have the potential to act as barricades to development. This thesis discusses these issues and reaches conclusions as to potential areas for reform.

This study offers the first instalment of a general history of land acquisition in British India, c. 1894–1927. It advances eight principal theses: (i) that the first law of land acquisition was enacted in 1668, as part of a political settlement by the East India Company with the Portuguese landlords of Bombay island; (ii) that, to a remarkable degree, land acquisition law was shaped in the interest of the sterling railway companies; (iii) that the state habitually used land acquisition not so much to effect non- consensual transfers but to ‘launder’ titles free of encumbrances and other claims; (iv) that the primary beneficiaries of land acquisition were public bodies, the sterling railway companies, and elite private interests; (v) that the executive was hostile to legislative and judicial oversight of land acquisition, and successfully resisted or co-opted attempts to impose such oversight; (vi) that the courts were in any event content with the role they were assigned under the 1894 Act, and generally deferred to the executive in land acquisition cases; (vii) that the land-acquiring executive, although hostile to and unencumbered by meaningful legislative and judicial oversight, as a general rule displayed a legal fastidiousness; (viii) that, despite an appearance of impartiality, land acquisition bore the stain of imperialism. These theses are advanced in the course of explaining the failure of the forgotten Kelkar Bill (1927), an attempt by the Maharashtrian nationalist N. C. Kelkar (1872–1947) to enact far-reaching amendments to the Land Acquisition Act 1894. Kelkar’s fellow nationalists withheld their open support from the measure and thereby guaranteed its failure: a counterintuitive choice that, it is argued, exemplifies the tactical compromises of nationalism.

In this dissertation I explore the role and importance of patent strategy for appropriating returns from innovation. In particular, I examine the mechanisms through which firms increase appropriability from patenting by employing complementary resources and capabilities and gauge their contribution to firm performance. To this end, I perform three empirical studies. In the first study, I focus on measuring patent value and demonstrate that the importance of firm resources and capabilities is much higher than previously thought. I interpret these results as providing strong support for the view that the design of patent strategy is crucial for profiting from innovation. In the second study, I look into a sample of technology acquisitions and examine under what circumstances firms profit from combining previously separate patent rights. I demonstrate that the merging of overlapping patent portfolios give rise to inimitable synergies, albeit only in complex technology industries. In addition, I find that firms are more likely to acquire targets with patents when their patent productivity is low, when they have a technologically diverse patent portfolio in complex technology industries and when they face an increased threat of being involved in patent suits. In the third study, I explore the role of patent strategies in the non-technological domain. I demonstrate that recent regulatory changes enabling the patenting of business methods can help patentees capture value from business model and management innovations. Moreover, I find that patenting experience and access to complementary assets are both crucial elements of a patenting strategy aimed at increasing appropriability. Taken together, these studies contribute towards bringing studies of patenting and the resource-based view of the firm closer together, to mutual advantage. This results in a better understanding of the effectiveness of patents at the firm-level and in a clearer operationalization of concepts of resources and resource interdependence.

This thesis examines the theories and practices surrounding the rural land takings law in modern China. It identifies and rejects the dominant Transition Paradigm in the existing literature which treats the contemporary crisis of rural land expropriation in China as a case of unfulfilled constitutional promise and dispenses prescriptions aimed at developing the Chinese expropriation law towards the supposedly more advanced models of takings law found in other countries, especially the USA. By unearthing the long overlooked historical lineage within which the rural land takings law evolves over the past century in China, including the almost forgotten original takings clause in the 1954 PRC Constitution and the foundational theories propounded by both the communist and nationalist parties, this thesis offers a much richer picture on how and why the Chinese expropriation law has become the way it is today. It shows that the widely recognized phenomenon of “land finance” is a symptom rather than cause of the problem, which lies in the deeply entrenched tradition of rural land takings for the party-state’s social transformative programmes, rendering the Chinese experience incomparable to that of any other countries. The current takings clause in the 1982 PRC Constitution and the present law in this area, despite the relevant reforms over the past decade, remain to faithfully reflect such a tradition characterized by the state’s plan-based top-down control over rural land and the presumption of state expropriation in non-agricultural use of rural land. Since these have been the paramount features of the Chinese land regime for over half a century and are unlikely to change in the foreseeable future, most of the reform recommendations made in the existing scholarship are either irrelevant or unfeasible. However, this is not to say that no change is possible. A more modest yet more realistic reform proposal will be put forward.

The thesis considers the scope of trade mark protection against the context of paid search marketing. The hypothesis is that ‘fair and efficient competition’ is at the heart of the balance between interested parties and between trade mark protection and between free speech. This introduces the concept of a 'virtuous cycle' in the application of trade mark law. this thesis suggests that fair and efficient competition should be the ultimate purpose of trade mark law. The concept can be furthered by protecting pro-competitive trade mark functions: the intra trade mark information function and the inter-trademark differentiation function. Thus, only where third party use third party use is likely to harm the information and differentiation functions of owners' trade marks user could be liable. In a democratic society, there is anadditional consideration:thebalance between trade mark protection and free speech. Where third parties use trade marks in non-commercial contexts, likelihood of confusion or dilution should be the result ofactual malice or calculated falsehood. These two considerations are tested against the real world context of paid search marketing. Based on the protection of pro-competitive trade mark functions and speech restriction standards, and the relevance of actual and direct context and circumstances of paid search marketing, advertisers can be liable for their use of trade marks even when they do not include trade marks in their advertisements. Search engines, however,are not responsible for their use ‘under current practices,’ whether or not trade marks are included in advertisements. The thesis supports that trade mark law and jurisprudence should transform the cycle that starts with the balance of interests and end with fair and efficient competition into a virtuous spiralwhere one feeds the other; the two are inextricably linked.

Thailand’s plant protection regime presents a unique sui generis plant protection system, which is used as a model by several developing nations. The current Thai Plant Variety Protection (PVP) law has attracted some criticism, and whether or not farmers and breeders actually benefit from the system is in doubt. The questions this situation raises are: has Thailand adopted clear, coherent, and workable rules for plant variety protection in response to the needs of the nation? Is the introduction of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in agriculture via a PVP regime a desirable and contributory factor to the development of Thailand? More precisely, how might such an IPR regime be made compatible with Thailand’s development needs, bearing in mind the obligations the country has accepted through its membership of the WTO and adherence to the TRIPS Agreement? This thesis attempts to address these questions. By highlighting the salient features of the Thai plant protection regime, this thesis addresses the major concerns of the rights of farmers, local communities, and plant breeders. It is suggested that the protection of plant varieties is vital to Thailand, considering the fact that agriculture represents a fundamental economic activity and the livelihood of a large section of the total population; therefore, introducing IPRs in agriculture via the PVP regime is critical to the development of agriculture in Thailand. Thus, a new developmental approach to the IP protection of plant varieties is desirable to ensure the unique needs of the nation the validity of national legislation, and the long-term promotion of agricultural development and sustainability in Thailand. Thailand can provide a more coherent framework for plant variety protection by carefully calibrating the PVP provisions and establishing a coherent set of rules in the form of a new legislative framework. It is concluded that a number of possible elements are available from a variety of instruments that exist in international law, notably the TRIPS Agreement, the UPOV Convention, the CBD, and the ITPGRFA. Lastly, the proposed regulatory reforms suggest that Thailand’s PVP provisions should be amended in three major areas, including (1) provisions for the rights of farmers and local societies, (2) legal protection for plant breeders’ rights, and (3) institutional apparatus governing plant protection issues in Thailand.