{"id":25596,"date":"2024-10-14T14:03:43","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T14:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ivir.nl\/?post_type=vo_events&p=25596"},"modified":"2024-11-28T15:28:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T15:28:39","slug":"the-human-right-to-a-healthy-environment","status":"publish","type":"vo_events","link":"https:\/\/www.ivir.nl\/nl\/agenda\/the-human-right-to-a-healthy-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"The Human Right to a Healthy Environment: What Impact on Intellectual Property Laws?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(with the financial support by the University of Amsterdam Law Faculty Research Strategic Investment Fund and the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Practical details<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Date:<\/strong> Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Time:<\/strong> 13:00 – 19:15 CET (Amsterdam)
Place: <\/strong>This event will take place on location<\/strong><\/mark><\/a> and online via Zoom.
Location<\/strong>: IViR Room, REC A5.24, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam.
Fees:<\/strong> free of charge

Please register for this event below<\/mark><\/a><\/strong>.
Registration will close on Tuesday 3 December at 14.00 hours.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Current linear market patterns, marked by excessive production and overconsumption, threaten the environment, fueling its degradation. Recognizing this, there is a growing call for environmental awareness, with practices exploring the alternatives to the destruction of goods emerging as hopeful solutions for transitioning to a more just and sustainable economy that respects the fundamental rights of all stakeholders, including the human right to a healthy environment (HR2HE). However, a notable obstacle arises to these aspirations and sustainable practices \u2013 intellectual property (IP) protection. Current IP laws frequently diverge from sustainability objectives, hindering the shift away from linear business models. As a result, across jurisdictions, IP holders wield significant power, enabling them to impede sustainable businesses such as repair, refurbishment, or upcycling, or to advocate for unsustainable measures, such as destroying even genuine but parallel-imported goods that are found to infringe on IP rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite a growing discourse on the negative impact of IP protection on sustainability, there has been a notable absence of in-depth analysis of this issue from a human rights law perspective. This workshop aims to address this gap by examining the intersection of the evolving human right to a healthy environment and IP laws. Recent developments, such as the UN\u2019s recognition of a self-standing HR2HE in its October 2021 Resolution and the 2024 Grand Chamber judgment of the European Court of Human Rights affirming that a country\u2019s failure to uphold its environmental protection commitments constitutes a human rights violation, underscore the urgency of this issue.  The workshop will consist of several sessions, each featuring introductory talks by presenters, followed by discussions with participants. The first session will lay the foundation for applying HR2HE to IP by examining the meaning and scope of this rapidly evolving human right within international, Council of Europe, and EU legal frameworks. The second session will shift to a more specific discussion on the role of environmental human rights in fostering sustainability and building circular economies, thereby smoothly transitioning to the subsequent sessions focused on specific rules of IP protection in Europe and their impact on sustainability. To this effect, the third session will examine the impact of trademark protection on businesses engaged in repair, refurbishment, and upcycling. The fourth session will conduct a similar examination from the copyright law perspective, while the fifth session will analyze substantive patent protection, as well as remedies for IP infringement, from the HR2HE angle. The sixth and final session, featuring one introductory talk followed by an extended open discussion with all workshop speakers and the audience, will explore potential strategies for reconciling the human right to environmental protection with intellectual property laws. It will also address a more substantive question on the role and place of this human right in the broader discussions on IP and sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
13.00 – 13.30<\/td>Welcoming (coffee\/tea)<\/td><\/tr>
13.30 – 13.35<\/td>Opening<\/strong>
by Elena Izyumenko<\/mark><\/a>, Assistant Professor of Intellectual Property Law, IViR, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands and
Eva Meyermans Spelmans, PhD Researcher in European Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
1<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>Understanding HR2HE: International, ECHR and EU Charter Perspectives<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
13.35 – 13.45<\/td>HR2HE: The international law perspective (10 min)<\/strong>
by Otto Spijkers, Assistant Professor of International and European Law,<\/em>
Leiden University College, Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, Leiden University, The Netherlands<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
13.45 – 13.55<\/td>HR2HE: Perspective of the European Court of Human Rights (10 min)<\/strong>
by Natalia Kobylarz, Senior Lawyer, European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France (online)<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
13.55 – 14.05<\/td>HR2HE: The EU Charter perspective (10 min)<\/strong>
by Jasper Krommendijk, Professor of Human Rights Law, Jean Monnet Chair<\/em>
on the Rule of Law in the national and EU legal orders (EURoLNAT), Director<\/em>
of the research centre for State and Law (SteR), Radboud University<\/em>
Nijmegen, The Netherlands<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
14.05 – 14.20<\/td>Discussion \u2013 15 min<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>The Role of Environmental Human Rights in Fostering Sustainability<\/mark><\/strong>
and Building Circular Economies<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
14.20 – 14.30<\/td>Resisting the allure of future generations\u2019 rights (10 min)<\/strong>
by Lu\u00edsa Pinto E Netto, Assistant Professor, Leiden Univertsity, <\/em>
The Netherlands<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
14.30 – 14.40<\/td>Fashion industry\u2019s impact on sustainability and human rights (10 min)<\/strong>
by Eva Meyermans Spelmans, PhD Researcher in European Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands (co-convener)<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
14.40 – 14.50<\/td>Discussion \u2013 10 min<\/td><\/tr>
14.50 – 15.10<\/td>Coffee break \u2013 20 min<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>HR2HE and Trademarks<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
15.10 – 15.20<\/td>Trademark protection and sustainability: A U.S. law perspective (10 min)<\/strong>
by Irene Calboli, Regents Professor of Law – Texas A&M University School of Law, USA (online)<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
15.20 – 15.30<\/td>Trademark protection and upcycling (10 min)<\/strong>
by Martin Senftleben<\/mark><\/a>, Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Director,<\/em>
IViR, University of Amsterdam; Of Counsel, Bird & Bird, The Hague, The Netherlands<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
15.30 – 15.40<\/td>Trademarks, repair and refurbishment (10 min)<\/strong>
by Annette Kur, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Max Planck Institute <\/em>
for Innovation and Competition, Munich, Germany<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
15.40 – 15.55<\/td>Discussion \u2013 15 min<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>HR2HE and Copyright<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
15.55 – 16.05<\/td>Copyright economic rights protection and environmental sustainability<\/strong>
(10 min)<\/strong>
by P\u00e9ter Mezei,<\/em> Professor of Law, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of Szeged, Hungary<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
16.05 – 16.15<\/td>Copyright moral rights protection and environmental sustainability (10 min)<\/strong>
by Heidi H\u00e4rk\u00f6nen, Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Law, University of Turku, Finland<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
16.15 – 16.25<\/td>Discussion \u2013 10 min<\/td><\/tr>
16.25 – 16.45<\/td>Coffee break \u2013 20 min<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>HR2HE, Patent Protection and Remedies for IP Infringement<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
16.45 – 16.55<\/td>Patent protection and environmental sustainability (10 min)<\/strong>
by L\u00e9on Dijkman, Assistant professor, IViR, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
16.55 – 17.05<\/td>Sustainability and remedies for IP infringement (10 min)<\/strong>
by Charlotte Vrendenbarg, Professor of Private Law \/ Intellectual Property<\/em>
Law, Radboud University, The Netherlands<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
17.05 – 17.15<\/td>Patents, destruction of infringing goods and sustainability: An insurmountable paradox? (10 min)<\/strong>
by Lisa van Dongen<\/mark><\/a>, Postdoctoral Researcher, IViR, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
17.15 – 17.30<\/td>Discussion \u2013 15 min<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>Solutions: What Role for HR2HE in IP Law?<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
17.30 – 17.40<\/td>Aligning IP Protection with HR2HE (Introductory talk followed by an<\/strong>
open discussion) (10 min)<\/strong>
by Elena Izyumenko<\/mark><\/a>, Assistant Professor of Intellectual Property Law, IViR, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (co-convener)<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
17.40 – 18.10<\/td>Open discussion: What role for HR2HE in IP law? (30 min)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
18.10 – 18.15<\/td>Concluding remarks and closing (5 min)<\/td><\/tr>
18.15 – 19.15<\/td>Closing drinks (60 min)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Registration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n