The Relationship Between Intellectual Property and Administrative Law

Intellectual property and administrative law entertain a long-standing, though ambiguous relationship. Intellectual property rights (IPR) depend on a number of institutions, and primarily from intellectual property offices granting several of them, which fall into the administrative structure of each country. The direct consequence of the relevance of administrative law for the research, analysis, and understanding of intellectual property law is that certain IP-related questions cannot be properly addressed without using the tool provided by administrative law. Indeed, intellectual property and administrative law partly overlap, as both branches of law are nationally characterized and country-specific, changing from country to country, and both have experienced significant changes related to globalization from the national to the international level. The growing regulation of intellectual property at the international level has somehow brought about an expansion of the intersection between intellectual property and administrative law and procedures. Therefore, complete, thorough research on intellectual property law and policy must take into account the conceptual tools and categories elaborated in administrative law.