Book excerpt: This book, arising from the collaboration between the IEEM in Macao and the Max Planck Institute in Munich, provides up-to-date information on developments in global intellectual property law and policy and their impact on regional economic and cultural development. The first two parts of the book give broad coverage to the protection of relative newcomers to the field of international intellectual property: cultural heritage and geographical indications. The third part deals with issues of enforcement which have become a major point of interest since the substantive intellectual property rules were put in place. Particular emphasis is given to enforcement systems in Asia, and to the subject matter of criminal enforcement that in many parts of the world is considered an important tool of effective protection. The final part of the book deals with the issue of multiple protection and overprotection, now a growing issue in IP law.