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Brinkhof, Jan --- "On patents and human rights" [2010] ELECD 335; in Grosheide, Willem (ed), "Intellectual Property and Human Rights" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Intellectual Property and Human Rights

Editor(s): Grosheide, Willem

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848444478

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: On patents and human rights

Author(s): Brinkhof, Jan

Number of pages: 15

Extract:

8. On patents and human rights
Jan Brinkhof*

1. INTRODUCTION
Duncan Matthews' clear and balanced contribution on `Intellectual Property
Rights, Human Rights and the Right to Health' has inspired me to make a few
observations. I will limit myself to patent law and human rights law. There are
two reasons warranting such a restricted reply. First, it may not be helpful to
talk about Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in general terms as this might
give rise to the impression that they are more or less homogenous rights, and
that would be a misunderstanding of IP law. That is to say, considerable differ-
ences exist between the rights protected in IP law, the aims pursued by the law,
the ways in which rights are gained or granted, and the extent to which and the
length of time during which the economic freedoms of third parties are
restricted. To make matters more complex still, the various types of IP rights
also differ in their relationships with the various categories of human rights.1
Given this diversity, tarring IP rights with the same brush carries with it the
risk of arriving at incorrect comments and policy prescriptions. A second
reason to restrict the scope of my reply is that I have a better understanding of
patent law than the other IP rights ­ and I hasten to add, I am not a specialist
in human rights.




* Jan Brinkhof is Professor of Patent Law at the Centre for Intellectual Property
Law (CIER), Molengraaff Institute for ...