Upcycling, the Ongoing Battle: A (Hopeful) United States Perspective

In recent years, upcy­cling has seen a surge in pop­u­lar­i­ty thanks to its pos­i­tive impact on sus­tain­abil­i­ty and the cir­cu­lar econ­o­my due to con­sumers‹ increas­ing atten­tion to the envi­ron­ment. As a result, indi­vid­u­als, arti­sans, and small com­pa­nies have enthu­si­as­ti­cal­ly embraced the prac­tice as a cen­tral part of their activ­i­ties and a way to reduce waste. How­ev­er, with fame often comes unwant­ed atten­tion, and the growth of upcy­cling prac­tices has led to var­i­ous legal chal­lenges against inde­pen­dent upcy­clers based on the argu­ment that their prod­ucts vio­late intel­lec­tu­al prop­er­ty (IP) rights.