This thesis investigates the role of prior use in common and statutory trade mark law. In the United States a pertinent requirement is priority of use. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a reputation must be present. In the United Kingdom a plaintiff is required to have goodwill in the country, but in the United States and South Africa it is not required. The conception of a mark does not qualify for protection. It is not required that a business must have actually entered the market. In the United States the general approach is that a plaintiff will not receive protection in a remote area, but regard must be had to zones of natural expansion. British and South African law is the same, and protection may be obtained in areas where there is no trading. Where a dual reputation exists, neither party will be able to act against the other. The mere fact that the user of a mark was aware of the use thereof by another person, does not exclude protection. A trade mark application can be opposed on the basis of another application, combined with use of a mark, or on the ground of prior use. In some instances the fact that a mark has been filed will influence the burden of proof. In general, a registration can be expunged on the same grounds as would constitute grounds of opposition. The concurrent use of a mark can form the basis for the registration of a mark. In the United States, the use must have taken place prior to the filing date of the other party, but in the United Kingdom and South Africa, prior to the own filing date. In the latter two countries, knowledge of a mark is not necessarily exclusionary. Prior use is generally accepted as a defence to an infringement action. It is, however, noted that in various countries, it is only use prior to the relevant date that will be protected, and there is not necessarily a right to extend the scope of use concerned. / Mercantile Law / LL.D. (Mercantile Law)

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / The statutory definition of the lock-out encompasses certain acts (inter alia termination of contracts of employment) which must be executed by the employer with a certain purpose. The Appellate Division has recently found that the employment relationship not necessarily terminates similarly to the common law contract of employment, but may subsist after termination of the contract of employment. The industrial court does not easily accept that it has been deprived of its unfair labour practice jurisdiction where terminations of employment take place in consequence of a lock-out. The motive of the employer seems to be decisive. In line with both the trend in first world countries and principles established by the courts in South Africa, the Constitution and especially recent labour legislation significantly curtail the bargaining power of the employer because it is progressively being believed that the employer has sufficient economic power to his disposal. / Die omskrywing van die uitsluiting in wetgewing omvat sekere handelinge {onder andere beeindiging van dienskontrakte) wat deur die werkgewer met 'n sekere doel verrig moet word. Die Appelhof het onlangs beslis dat die diensverhouding na beeindiging van die dienskontrak kan bly voortduur en nie noodwendig soos die gemeenregtelike dienskontrak ten einde loop nie. Die nywerheidshof aanvaar ook nie geredelik dat hy in geval van diensbeeindiging wat volg op 'n uitsluiting van sy onbillike arbeidspraktyk jurisdiksie ontneem is nie. Die motief van die werkgewer blyk hier deurslaggewend te wees. In lyn met sowel die ne1g1ng in eerstew~reldse lande, asook beginsels reeds deur die howe in Suid-Afrika gevestig, word die bedingingsmag van die werkgewer ingevolge die Grondwet en veral onlangse arbeidswetgewing betekenisvol ingekort omrede toenemend aanvaar word dat die werkgewer oor voldoende ekonomiese mag beskik. / Law / LL.M.

Law / LL.M.

The Constitution stipulates that its value-commitments are to inform the interpretation of statutes and the development of the common law and customary law. Legislative construction and law-application generally are therefore to be perceived as involving an axiological dimension. Three hermeneutical traditions are dealt with to the end of clarifying the approaches to be adopted in everyday legal• argumentation. The study culminates in the adduction of leads for substantive !juridical argument in the process of statutory interpretation and in handling common-law and customary-law sources. These leads are shown to be functional byi way of a critical discussion of recent case law and a conspectus of contemporary t~ought bearing on the nature of customary law. The social dimension of the legal process is throughout underscored as a factor of significance. Concomitantly, it is rcigistered that the jurisprudence of formalism, so marked an attitude of a previous time, should be abjured to the extent that it is disdainful of value-commitment. Conformably, literalist and literalist-cumintentionalist perceptions as well as kindred stances are berated. The penultimate chapter of this thesis suggests an encompassing approach to the interpretation of statutes, comprised of a systematic tabulation of insights previously garnered. The fmal chapter postulates that common law and customary law are not to be dealt with upon an interchangeable basis, inasmuch as the sources go out from radically divergent premises. It then proceeds to elaborate a conceptual framework for dealing respectively with each of these sources. / Law / LL.D.

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / Die eiendomsklousule soos vervat in Artikel 28(1) van die Grondwet waarborg regte in eiendom. Daar word na die tradisionele eiendomsparadigma verwys, asook die leemtes in die konsep. Die "new property"-konsep word vervolgens in oenskou geneem. Sowel die gemenereg as die inheemse reg word, met verwysing na die begrippe "regte" en "eiendom", behandel. Daarna volg 'n bespreking van die konsep "regte in eiendom", wat die inhoud en omvang van die konsep aandui. In 'n afsonderlike hoofstuk word regte in grand bespreek. Die vraag of 'n konstitusionele reg ten aansien van huisvesting bestaan, geniet oak aandag. Ten slotte word regsvergelykend te werk gegaan en na buitelandse regsbronne verwys wat moontlik in die toekoms 'n rol by die uitleg van die Grondwet kan speel. Daar word gepoog om aan te dui dat die Grondwet as geheel ge"interpreteer en toegepas behoort te word. Die korrekte interpretasie en toepassing van die Grondwet word van uiterste belang beskou ten einde aan die doel van die Grondwet te voldoen. / The property clause is contained in Section 28(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees rights in property. The tradisional property paradigm is referred to, as well as its deficiencies. Thereupon the "new property" concept is taken account of. The common law and the customary law are dealt with, with reference to the concepts "rights" and "property". Subsequently a discussion of the concept "rights in property" follows, denoting this concept's contents and extent. Thereupon rights in land is dealt with. A constitutional right to housing is also attended to. Finally a comparative overview is given with reference to foreign case law, which may in future play a role in the interpretation of the Constitution. Attempts are made to indicate that the Constitution should be interpreted and enforced as a whole. In its correct interpretation and enforcement it is of utmost importance to have due regard to the objects of the Constitution. / Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law / LL.M.

Picketing, a method used by employees, collectively, to assert their demands against employers, is a controversial subject arising from the conflict of interest existing between labour and employers! Previously, South African law neither forbade nor regulated picketing. Consequently, no immunity from civil liability existed in relation to a person's conduct during a picket. Presently, picketing is regulated by section 17 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108of19% (right to picket) and section 69 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, which provides for a protected picket (one that complies with the requirements of section 69) whereby immunity from civil liability attaches to a person's conduct during a picket. These provisions and their coexistence is examined, comparing foreign law where relevant, in an attempt to provide a foundation for a topic relatively disregarded. Section 69 reveals elements of uncertainty and vagueness. / Law / LL.M.

"Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures En vue de l'obtention du grade de Maîtrise en droit LL.M. (2-325-1-0)" / Le Québec est la seule province canadienne à ne pas imposer d'obligation légale quant aux rapports interpersonnels entre les membres de couples non mariés. Pourtant, leur nombre augmente considérablement et, en 2001, il y avait 1 158 410 couples en union libre au Canada, dont 508 525 vivaient au Québec. Les conjoints de fait des autres provinces canadiennes ont revendiqué un statut juridique d'égalité de droits avec les couples mariés, ce qui a donné lieu à plusieurs décisions de la Cour suprême du Canada et à la mise en vigueur de lois visant l'encadrement juridique de la rupture de ces conjoints de fait. C'est ainsi que toutes les provinces canadiennes, sauf le Québec, imposent une obligation alimentaire entre conjoints de fait à la rupture. La présente étude utilise les méthodologies d'analyse proposées par les théories légales féministes pour aborder la situation juridique de la famille québécoise dans un contexte historique et social afin de suggérer la mise en place d'un cadre légal des rapports interpersonnels des conjoints de fait. Afin de favoriser une plus grande égalité et une solidarité familiale, l'auteur propose l'établissement d'une obligation alimentaire compensatoire entre les membres des couples québécois non-mariés, avec enfants. / Quebec is the only Canadian province that does not impose legal obligations regarding interpersonal relations between the members of unmarried couples. In 2001, there was 1 158 410 unmarried couples in Canada, of which 508 525 were living in the province of Ouebec. Common law spouses from other provinces have claimed equal legal status with married couples, which lead to many decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada and to provincial legislations regarding their separation. Thus, ail Canadian provinces except Ouebec impose alimentary support on common law spouses at separation. This study uses the methodology of feminist legal theories to approach the legal situation of Quebec families in a historical and sociological context to propose a legislation regarding interpersonal relations within unmarried couples. According to the author, there should be a compensatory obligation of support between the members of unmarried couples with children to favor equality and familial solidarity.

La question du traitement de l’aléa affectant les contrats publics semble opposer de façon « incommensurable » les droits anglais et français. Si le droit français est doté de règles de droit objectif permettant, dans l’intérêt général, le traitement de l’aléa affectant les contrats publics sans accord des parties, rien de tel n’existe en droit anglais ou la règle de la force obligatoire commande l’intangibilité de l’accord initial. La comparaison anglo-française permet, grâce à cet antagonisme, de mettre en exergue les ressorts profonds du traitement de l’aléa affectant les contrats publics au travers de l’opposition théorique entre force obligatoire et intérêt public. Dans cette perspective, les règles générales permettant, en droit français, le traitement de l’aléa sans accord des parties apparaissent comme étant fondées sur une conception économique et téléologique du contrat et de sa force obligatoire, que l’on peut également identifier dans certains aspects du droit anglais des contrats. En outre, le mode de traitement de l’aléa priviligié en Angleterre aussi bien qu’en France est l’accord de volontés – initial ou subséquent. Néanmoins, les possibilités de modification du contrat en cours d’exécution sont drastiquement limitées par le droit de l’Union européenne. A l’inverse, les stipulations initiales qui tendent à ériger, du fait de la généralisation des clauses standardisées, un régime contractuel autonome de traitement de l’aléa, apparaissent désormais comme le mode incontournable d’adaptation des contrats publics en cours d’exécution. / The question of the treatment of uncertain/unforeseen events affecting public contracts seems to oppose in an immeasurable way English and French laws. While, in French law, general rules provide, in the public interest, the treatment of uncertain/unforeseen events affecting public contracts without the consent of the contractors, no such provisions exist in English law, where the sanctity and intangibility of contract prevails. Thank to this antagonism, the proposed comparison enables to highlight the deep motivations of the treatment of uncertain/unforeseen events affecting public contracts, through the theoretical opposition between sanctity of contract and public interest. In this respect, the general rules allowing, in French law, the treatment of the uncertain/unforeseen events without the consent of the parties appear to be based on an economic and teleological approach of the contract and its biding force. Surprisingly, the latter approach can also be noticed, in some respects, in the English law of contracts. Moreover, the priviledged mean to treat uncertain/unforeseen events in England as well as in France is the agreement of the parties – whether ex ante or ex post. Nonetheless, the possibilities of variating the contract in the course of its performance have been drastically limited by the European Union law. By contrast, the intial terms which tends to erect an autonomous regime of treatment of uncertain/unforeseen events through the spreading of standard terms appear to be the major and indispensable mean of adaptation of public contracts in the course of their performance.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:25:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Camila Moreira Barros Dutra.pdf: 801824 bytes, checksum: cc61a3182884ec66bf60e861730a166b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-08-29 / The present work boards the controversy over the straight law of habitation as a figure of right of succession in the case of the death of the one of the parties in a common-law marriage. It has been stablished a parallel among these rights conceded to the husbands or wives and those conceded to the parties of the common-law marriage at the present standing normative system. According to this, a critical analysis has been made with the familiar entities disposed by the Federal Constitution and its abordage by the infraconstitutional rules. Essencial to the proposed object, the study has been expanded to the elements of the family rights, the straight law and the rights of succession, having as an aim the examining of this law application over the surviving part in a common-law marriage / O presente trabalho aborda o questionamento acerca do direito real de habitação como figura do Direito sucessório nos casos de sucessão do convivente. Traçou-se um paralelo entre os direitos hereditários concedidos aos cônjuges e aos conviventes na atual sistemática normativa vigente. Em vista disso, foi realizada análise crítica às entidades familiares instituídas pela Constituição Federal e seu tratamento pelas normas infraconstitucionais. O estudo se estendeu, por essencial à abordagem ao objeto proposto, elementos do Direito de Família, do Direito Real e do Direito das Sucessões, tendo como objetivo a verificação de aplicação de tal direito aos conviventes supérstites

Esta tese tem por objeto a investigação dos aspectos legais decorrentes do comércio eletrônico, com ênfase na validade e obrigatoriedade dos contratos de adesão eletrônicos e os denominados termos e condições de uso. Estes negócios jurídicos eletrônicos podem ser divididos em três espécies: a) licenças do tipo shrink-wrap, terminologia reservada às compras de software no estabelecimento físico do fornecedor, cujos termos contratuais que vincularão as partes não podem ser visualizados antes da compra do produto, mas tão somente no decorrer da instalação do software, garantindo-se ao adquirente a possibilidade efetiva de devolução do produto se não concordar com os termos da licença; b) contratos do tipo click-wrap, contratos celebrados inteiramente em meio eletrônico, em que o consumidor tem a oportunidade de ler as cláusulas contratuais antes de manifestar, expressamente, sua anuência ou não, clicando em uma caixa de diálogo indicativa de expressões como eu aceito, ou outra semelhante; e, c) os termos e condições de uso, denominados pela doutrina estrangeira como browse-wrap, disponibilizados no canto inferior de uma página da internet em um hiperlink, vinculando toda e qualquer pessoa, que tão-somente acesse o respectivo site, sem ao menos chamar a atenção do usuário para a existência destes termos ou nem exigindo a manifestação da anuência a tais termos. Os tribunais estrangeiros têm enfrentado a problemática em torno da validade e obrigatoriedade destas práticas comerciais, em especial os browse-wrap, cujo formato em que são utilizados descaracteriza-nos com contratos ou condições gerais de contratação, pois o usuário nem ao menos tem consciência da existência de tais termos. Portanto, parte da doutrina e da jurisprudência entende que o browse-wrap não se encaixa na definição de contrato, mas são termos unilateralmente propostos por uma das partes sem que a outra possa ter efetivo conhecimento a respeito. Se, por um lado, há necessidade de reconhecer os efeitos obrigatórios dos contratos de adesão eletrônicos, fortalecendo o comércio eletrônico; por outro lado, a sociedade global exige a efetiva proteção dos consumidores e usuários contra abusos praticados por multinacionais, que operam sem fronteiras geográficas. Assim, juristas e doutrinadores enfrentam um enorme desafio: desenvolver um comércio eletrônico sustentável, equilibrando os interesses comerciais e os direitos dos consumidores. Este trabalho pretende determinar os requisitos jurídicos para a validade dos contratos eletrônicos de maneira científica, analisando o processo de formação contratual em meio eletrônico. Por fim, investiga-se a dúvida acerca da lei aplicável e da jurisdição na era digital, enfatizando a cláusula de eleição de foro, de escolha da lei aplicável e compromissória, bem como seu impacto no acesso à justiça do consumidor. Em suma, esta tese destaca a necessidade de uma legislação uniforme sobre comércio eletrônico e a proteção do consumidor, tendo em vista o alto nível de globalização, para que se possam tutelar os direitos dos consumidores aliados aos interesses econômicos do mercado. / This thesis intends to investigate some of the legal issues raised by e-commerce, specifically the validity and enforceability of the electronic adhesion contracts and the terms and conditions of use. Such electronic juridic acts can be grouped into three subspecies: a) the shrink-wrap licences, reserved for purchase in the store, but yet the consumer can not view the terms and conditions that she or he will be bound by, once the product (often a software) is installed; the consumer is granted with a period of time within she or he can return the product to the store if she or he does not agree with the terms and conditions; b) the click-wrap agreements are contracts presented to the consumer, when dealing on-line, stating the terms and conditions of the purchase, and then, once its read, she or he may point and click in a dialog box indicating her or his consent (such as I agree or some other synonymous expression); and c) the browse-wrap, composed by terms and conditions listed in a hyperlink on the bottom of a web page, which obliges the consumer only because she or he surfs on the Web, nevertheless it is not require that the consumer shows any kind of consent to the terms and conditions. Even though some courts have ruled in favor of the validity and enforceability of browse-wrap, it is very questionable to accept the fact of being bound by something that one never knew that it even existed. Thus, some other courts are of the view that browse-wrap is not technically a contract according to the legal doctrine. Instead it is a sort of private regulation of the disposal of products and services written by the supplier. On one hand, there is a need to enforce electronic commerce in order to stimulate and consolidate it by making electronic contracts binding on consumers. On the other hand, there is a need to protect consumers from the abuse of unequal bargaining power in such contractual relation, which may pit them against a multinational corporation, which operates throughout the world. Thus, jurists and academics must combine efforts to find a sustainable balance between these two sides. Besides there is a need for a uniform and scientific solution, given that a prerequisite to valid contract formation is the unequivocal meeting of the minds which may not happen in this means of contract formation, especially if the supplier does not require any clear and effective sign of assent from the consumer. The touchstone of e-commerce is the law and jurisdiction conflicts since such contracts often include a forum selection clause or a mandatory arbitration clause, which can deprive the consumers of their day in court. In short, it highlights the need for a uniform legislation and a strong consumer protection system to ensure the growth of ecommerce. This would foster a reliable electronic environment meeting the consumers expectations and the market standards.