Knowing the importance of plain packaging as an issue faced by MARQUES members, currently within the tobacco industry and potentially in a number of other sectors, readers of this weblog should note "Bans and Restrictions on the Use of Trademarks and Consumers' Health", a new article by Enrico Bonadio (City University London - The City Law School), which is being published in the final issue for 2014 of the Intellectual Property Quarterly. According to the abstract:

The article analyses to what extent the use of brands on packaging in the field of tobacco, alcohol and food can be prohibited or restricted by governments to protect consumers’ health. After introducing the most important packaging-related measures adopted or proposed in the industries in question and highlighting the differences between the concepts of "registration" and "use" of brands, the paper will make the point that the TRIPS Agreement and the Paris Convention do not offer trademark owners a positive right to use brands, but just a negative right (i.e. the right to prevent third parties from exploiting the sign), which makes the measures analysed in the paper lawful and compliant with those international treaties. In light of the evidence gathered thus far, the measures in question seem also to be capable of meeting the desired target, namely consumers’ health.

The text of this article is available in full in pdf format via SSRN, here.

MARQUES's involvement in this field is reflected in the activities and publications of the MARQUES Regulatory Team, which you can read about here.