In discussions regarding intellectual property (IP) law in Europe, the focus commonly leans towards the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rather than the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Indeed, quite a substantial amount – almost one tenth – from the total number of cases resolved by the CJEU in 2021-22 concerned IP, while the ECtHR addressed intellectual property in hardly half of one percent of its 2021-22 judgments. The question hence arises of whether the ECtHR is virtually insignificant for European IP?

This presentation answers this question in the negative by demonstrating that, despite the infrequency of explicit ECtHR pronouncements on IP, the influence of the Strasbourg Court jurisprudence upon European IP is substantial. In doing so, it examines:

• the legal significance of ECtHR case-law and its influence on CJEU jurisprudence concerning IP;
• the evolution of ECtHR IP-related case-law over time and the anticipated effects of the EU’s envisaged accession to the European Convention on Human Rights;
• recent trends in ECtHR IP-related jurisprudence, notably a noteworthy shift towards recognizing violations of IP holders’ human right to property, even in private IP disputes at the national level.

Reflecting on this last point, the presentation invites for a discussion on whether the European Human Rights Court is positioning itself to contribute to more rigorous IP enforcement, including in the digital sphere.

Dr. Elena Izyumenko is an Assistant Professor in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Amsterdam’s Institute for Information Law (IViR). In her previous role, Elena worked as a case-processing lawyer at the European Court of Human Rights (Council of Europe) and as a researcher at the Strasbourg University Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI). Elena’s research focuses on the intersection of intellectual property (IP) laws and policies with human rights (freedom of expression and information in particular), digital rights and freedoms, EU copyright and trademark laws, information law, technology, and online IP enforcement. Elena holds an award-winning Ph.D. in Intellectual Property Law from the University of Strasbourg, where she received the Prize for the Best Ph.D. Thesis in Private Law for the academic year 2020-2021, and the 2021 Marc OTTO Prize for the Best Ph.D. Thesis in Law. She also holds an LL.M. in International Human Rights Law and Intellectual Property Rights Law from Lund University in Sweden.

Date: 13 October 2023
Time: 15.30 – 16.45 CET (Amsterdam)
Place:
– IViR Room, 5.24, REC A, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam.
– Online via Zoom (you will receive the Zoomlink via e-mail on the morning of the lecture).

Please register for this lecture: