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| Despite decades of European harmonisation, the Belgian academic community has never departed from its traditions, including the ever-popular Professorial Retirement Procession (above) |
"Frank Gotzen, the founding father of the Centre for Intellectual Property Rights, displayed a vivid interest in IP law and the European harmonisation movement throughout his academic life. At the beginning of his career in 1970 the European harmonisation movement was negligible. During the many years of his research and teaching, a whole body of harmonised rules came into being in the sector of IP rights in the EU. It is widely known that this field of law and the gradual emergence of a ‘true’ European IP system always was, and still is, at the heart of Frank Gotzen’s interests.
This Kat remembers the first meeting of the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP), back in the mists of the last century when there still lots of continental IP scholars who didn't speak a word of English: Frank did, so this Kat had the benefit of his wisdom -- which he very much appreciated. Merpel is quite amused at the title of the conference: "Harmonisation of European IP Law: From European Rules to Belgian Law and Practice". She wonders if, had this been a Dutch professor who was retiring, the title would have been "Harmonisation of European IP Law: From Belgian Law and Practice to European Rules" .... Anyway, further information concerning this event, which is "followed by an academic celebration", can be sought from Linda Mees or from the Leuven CIR (Centre for Intellectual Property Studies) website here.Undoubtedly, his lectures and publications have contributed to the shaping of European IP law, and to the modification of Belgian IP law after the European model. Frank Gotzen’s superannuation constitutes an exquisite moment for giving an echo to the achievements – and failures – of this ambitious European project of harmonising IP law".
