Griffiths, Jonathan --- "Fundamental rights and European IP law: the case of Art 17(2) of the EU Charter" [2013] ELECD 203; in Geiger, Christophe (ed), "Constructing European Intellectual Property" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) 75

Book Title: Constructing European Intellectual Property

Editor(s): Geiger, Christophe

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781001639

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Fundamental rights and European IP law: the case of Art 17(2) of the EU Charter

Author(s): Griffiths, Jonathan

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

There is a large and ever-growing literature on the relationship between fundamental rights and intellectual property law. Particular attention has been devoted to a number of specific issues. These include the impact of the rights to health, medicine and life on patent law, the potential conflict between freedom of expression and the laws of copyright and trade marks and the privacy implications of intellectual property remedies and sanctions. These issues, amongst others, have been explored in a range of national and international legal contexts. However, the role of fundamental rights within European Union (EU) intellectual property law has not yet been fully explored. It is, nevertheless, likely to become a subject of increasing significance. Following the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty, EU bodies have clear obligations to take fundamental rights into consideration in all their activities. Under Art 6(1) of the Treaty of European Union (TEU), rights granted under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (‘the EU Charter’)7 have the same legal value as those established under the foundational treaties.