Balancing Intellectual Property Protection with the Human Right to a Healthy Environment: Internal and External Reconciliation Approaches

This con­tri­bu­tion exam­ines the prac­ti­cal ways in which the human right to a healthy envi­ron­ment (HR2HE) can influ­ence the devel­op­ment and inter­pre­ta­tion of intel­lec­tu­al prop­er­ty (IP) laws. It focus­es on two poten­tial approach­es to rec­on­cil­ing this human right with IP: (1) the so-called »inter­nal« rec­on­cil­i­a­tion approach, which essen­tial­ly uses the HR2HE as an inter­pre­tive tool to recal­i­brate IP law’s own inter­nal rules and mech­a­nisms in a more sus­tain­abil­i­ty-friend­ly direc­tion, and (2) the »exter­nal« rec­on­cil­i­a­tion approach, which views the HR2HE as an inde­pen­dent defence against IP infringe­ment actions that can be invoked in courts to chal­lenge alle­ga­tions of IP infringement.