CIPIL Evening Seminar: 'The 'Glocal' Space in International Intellectual Property Law'

Speaker: Dr Emmanuel Oke, Edinburgh Law School 

Biography: Emmanuel Oke is a Senior Lecturer in International Intellectual Property Law at Edinburgh Law School. His research interests include international and comparative aspects of intellectual property law. Specifically, his research explores the interface between intellectual property and other branches of international law such as international trade law, international investment law, and international human rights law. He is equally interested in the relationship between intellectual property and development. 

Abstract: The international intellectual property system can be structured into three spaces i.e. the global space, the glocal space, and the local space. The focus of this talk will be on the glocal space. The glocal space is the space available to states to experiment and adjust global rules to suit their local needs. Crucially, the glocal space is also where some actors attempt to transform local rules into global standards. Moreover, in some cases, it can be quite difficult to delineate the precise boundaries of the glocal space that is available to states in the international intellectual property system. The glocal space is thus an important space in the international intellectual property system. Building on the work of sociologists with regard to the concept of glocalisation, and drawing on the author’s recently published monograph, The Policy Space in International Intellectual Property Law (Brill Nijhoff, 2022), this talk will address two key issues. Firstly, it will critically explore how viewing glocalisation as an autonomous concept can be applied in the context of international intellectual property law and, in this regard, it will contend that the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement should not be conceptualised as simply a global agreement but as an agreement that contains both global and glocal spaces. Secondly, it will critically analyse the role that the WTO’s dispute settlement system has played in preserving the glocal space in international intellectual property law.  

This event is a hybrid event. If you are in Cambridge, please do join us in the Faculty. To attend online you must register via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wIQThP1gRA-WbSIYZNWPSQ