Intertwined rights: intellectual Property as a Human Right in the European Legal Sphere

Abstract

The consideration of intellectual property as a human right gives rise to
some particularly complex and, in some cases, unconventional considera-
tions. This is due to the different treatment of issues related to intellectual
property by the legal systems of the states, but also due to the traditional
treatment of intellectual property as part of the body of commercial law. As
a result, consideration of intellectual property as part of human rights law is
relatively more marginalized and quite fragmented. However, the relation-
ship o intellectual property law with human rights provisions needs to be re-
evaluated for several reasons: As Cullet notes: “First, the impacts of intellectual
property rights on the realization of human rights such as the right to health have be-
come much more visible following the adoption of the TRIPS Agreement. Second, the
increasing importance of intellectual property rights has led to the need for clarifying
the scope of human rights provisions protecting individual contributions to knowl-
edge. Third, a number of new challenges need to be addressed concerning contribu-
tions to knowledge, which cannot effectively be protected under existing intellectual
property rights regimes”.