The EU’s Cumbersome Investment Law and Policy, and Its Effects on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

Abstract

The extension of the EU’s exclusive competences over foreign direct investment, instead of being a smooth operation meant to streamline the investment policies of the Member States into one common EU investment policy, has turned into an arduous process of legal and political hurdles. The purpose of this Chapter is to explain the ways in which the EU’s cumbersome investment law and policy can affect the protection of the Intellectual Property (IP) rights of EU investors abroad, by focusing on the following core issues: (a) the fate of Member State bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with third countries following the Lisbon amendments; (b) the conclusion of new EU trade and investment agreements; (c) the compatibility of intra-EU BITs with EU Law; and (d) the compatibility between the Investment Court System and investment tribunals under Member State BITs with third countries and EU law.