CLES holds Brands, Competition and IP Law conference

The Centre for Law, Economics and Society (CLES) at UCL organized a conference on 'Brands: Competition and IP Law', in collaboration with IBIL at UCL and Loyola University of Chicago's Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies. 
The event was held on 2 December at UCL Laws. The aim of this conference, attended by more than 180 delegates from industry, the public sector, law firms and economic consultancies, was to reflect on the legal and economic understanding of brands by explaining what brands are and how they function, how trademark and competition law integrate brands in their framework, whether this is satisfactory, as well as the role brands play in business competition.

The conference also delved into specific issues raised by branding in 21st-century business competition, such as the challenges raised by online business and the increasing role of private labels in distribution. 

The Centre will co-organise a follow-up conference on the emergent field of brand law (as a unifying theme for both trademark law, unfair competition and antitrust/merger law) at Chicago in October 2012. A volume presenting the main lessons/conclusions from both conferences and providing a comparative (EU and US law) perspective will appear in 2013.