Intellectual Property And Human Rights

‘. . . very refreshing. . . a valuable contribution to the debate.’
– European Intellectual Property Review

‘The collection of articles makes a valuable contribution to current debates on these critically important issues by providing a range of views on the human rights implications of intellectual property law and policy.’
– Madhu Sahni, Journal of Intellectual Property Rights

‘Gathering together essays by leading commentators, Professor Willem Grosheide’s timely book offers an excellent overview of the many significant questions of social and legal policy that emerge at interface between intellectual property and human rights. . . Providing a range of views on the human rights implications of intellectual property law and policy, this collection makes a valuable contribution to current debates on these critically important issues.’
– Graeme Austin, University of Arizona, US

In the modern era where the rise of the knowledge economy is accompanied, if not facilitated, by an ever-expanding use of intellectual property rights, this timely book provides a much needed explanation to the relationship between intellectual property law and human rights law.

The contributors promote the view that this relationship should be central to the analysis of many of the profound problems that nation states and the international community encounter today, be they scientific, technological or cultural. The book is divided into sections covering the law and its trends, IP rights as human rights and human rights as restrictions to IP rights.

This stimulating book will appeal to academics, postgraduate students, national and international public authorities and those involved with international organizations in the fields of intellectual property law and human rights law.

Contents:

Preface

PART I: SETTING THE STAGE: THE LAW AND ITS TRENDS
1. General Introduction
Willem Grosheide

2. Human Rights Law Status Report
Cees Flinterman

3. Expansion and Convergence in Copyright Law
Madeleine de Cock Buning

4. Patents and Human Rights: Where is the Paradox?
Rochelle Cooper Dreyfuss

PART II: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AS HUMAN RIGHTS
5. Introduction
Jerzy Koopman

COPYRIGHT LAW AND PATENT LAW: TO ITS RECOGNITION – DIFFERING VIEWS

6. Is Copyright Fit for the 21st Century? No!
Joost Smiers

7. Intellectual Property Rights, Human Rights and the Right to Health
Duncan Matthews

8. On Patents and Human Rights
Jan Brinkhof

9. Current Patent Laws Cannot Claim the Backing of Human Rights
Wendy J. Gordon

PART III: HUMAN RIGHTS AS RESTRICTIONS TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
10. Introduction
Lucky Belder

COPYRIGHT LAW AND PATENT LAW: TO ITS ENFORCEMENT – DIFFERING VIEWS

11. A Practical Analysis of the Human Rights Paradox in Intellectual Property Law: Russian Roulette
Charlotte Waelde and Abbe E.L. Brown

12. Human Rights’ Limitations in Patent Law
Geertrui Van Overwalle

13. Human Rights as a Constraint on Intellectual Property Rights: The Case of Patent and Plant Variety Protection Rights, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge
Charles R. McManis

14. A Comment on ‘Human Rights as a Constraint on Intellectual Property Rights: The Case of Patent and Plant Variety Protection Rights, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge’
Martin J. Adelman

Index