SV / EN

Stockholm IP Law Review 2021 #2

Authors in this edition: Kristina Christensen, Despoina Farmaki, Valentine Labaume, Martina Lattacher, Gregor Noll, Frantzeska Papadopoulou Skarp, Nicky Willemsen

Published by Stockholm IP Law Review, December 2021

Editorial

One more year has reached its end. And it is not just any year, it is one more of these COVID-19 years. 

Here at Stockholm University, teaching in the classroom has been possible only since November, and still a number of activities take place on Zoom and the like. That being said, meeting our new master students has been great both on Zoom and irl, and the work carried out by the new student editing committee has been admirable. 

The Institute of Intellectual Property and Market Rights at Stockholm University has been very active during this year. The Institute organized several interesting digital seminars, with over six hundred participants from all over the world, such as the ”The Year of the Covid Vaccines” and ”The Making of Copyright”. 

And while we were working hard with our seminars, teaching and the production of this journal, a lot was happening in our IP world. 

First of all, the implementation of the Copyright in the Digital Market (DSM) Directive. The DSM Directive has been a controversial legislative act, the subject of extensive lobbying by rightsholders and platforms alike, and its adoption came only 2.5 years after it was first proposed by the Commission. During the past year we have followed the race of several EU members states to implement its provisions in national legislation, several months after the set deadline of the 7th of June 2021. In fact, a lot has happened since the time when the directive was negotiated until now, with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing digital consumption of copyright protected works under a new light. 

On the patent law front, following the recent developments and the further ratifications of the Protocol on the Provisional Application of the UPC Agreement (or “PAP-Protocol”), the unitary patent system is expected to be up and running by mid-2022. After all these years of waiting and the disappointments that came along with Brexit and the constitutional challenges in Germany, it seems now that the UPC really is on its way. 

There are furthermore, several events to look forward to. The Stockholm IP Law Conference is scheduled for the 7th of June 2022 in Stockholm. The ISHTIP conference will take place in Gothenburg (20-22 June 2022) and the yearly ATRIP conference in Copenhagen (20-23 June 2022). 

The production of this issue of the journal was marked by changes made at the editorial team. 

First of all our new student editors-in-chief, Alexandre Miura and Pia Riemenschneider, who have been the great pillars in the production of this issue! 

Associate professor Merima Bruncevic (University of Gothenburg) joined during the year as a content editor. Merima’s research focuses on the interface between art and law, law and cultural heritage, while among her special interests are legal theory, continental philosophy and philosophical methods applied to law. 

The co-founder of the journal, Åsa Hellstadius, has left the editing team but remains part of the board of the journal and thus a person of central importance for the further development of our journal. 

Please do take a look at the presentation of our amazing student editors, without whom this journal would not be possible!

Wishing you a nice holiday season, and see you in 2022 with a new issue!

Frantzeska Papadopoulou, Professor