Intellectual Property, Ethical Innovation and Sustainability
Towards a New Social Contract for the Digital Economy?
Will be published approx. on 23. June 2026
Book
Hardback
350 pages
978-1-0353-6776-4 (ISBN)
Description
This forward-looking book examines how growing concerns for the environment, technological advancements and sustainable development are impacting intellectual property (IP) law. Expert contributors explore how IP law and enforcement must be applied to new innovations in order to balance economic and social interests in the IP system.
Authors conceptualise the relationship between IP, sustainability and ethics, considering innovations derived from historical knowledge as well as a coherent framework for IP development in competition policy. The topic is assessed in the context of digital advancements such as AI, scrutinising the ethics of copyright protection and the right to research. Case studies from across the globe analyse, among other things, sustainable patent practices in Japan, the use of inter- and intra-regional agreements in Latin America and sustainable innovation in the EU craft sector. The authors investigate how current IP rights can be reconciled with ethical and sustainability imperatives in different economic sectors, including agriculture, food production, oil and gas.
Intellectual Property, Ethical Innovation and Sustainability is a valuable resource for scholars and students of intellectual property and environmental law. It is also highly beneficial for legal policymakers and practitioners interested in ethical innovation, sustainability and the digital economy.
Authors conceptualise the relationship between IP, sustainability and ethics, considering innovations derived from historical knowledge as well as a coherent framework for IP development in competition policy. The topic is assessed in the context of digital advancements such as AI, scrutinising the ethics of copyright protection and the right to research. Case studies from across the globe analyse, among other things, sustainable patent practices in Japan, the use of inter- and intra-regional agreements in Latin America and sustainable innovation in the EU craft sector. The authors investigate how current IP rights can be reconciled with ethical and sustainability imperatives in different economic sectors, including agriculture, food production, oil and gas.
Intellectual Property, Ethical Innovation and Sustainability is a valuable resource for scholars and students of intellectual property and environmental law. It is also highly beneficial for legal policymakers and practitioners interested in ethical innovation, sustainability and the digital economy.
Reviews / Votes
'This volume offers a set of valuable essays on the pressing question of how to align IP systems with sustainability goals, mapping the various parts of the problem, and focusing on those most important for global policymakers to address. Highly recommended!' -- Christopher Jon Sprigman, New York University School of Law, USAMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-6776-4 (9781035367764)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Edited by Christophe Geiger, Professor of Law and Director of the Innovation Law and Ethics Observatory (ILEO), Luiss University, Italy
Content
Contents
List of contributors viii
1 Introduction to Intellectual Property, Ethical Innovation and
Sustainability 1
Christophe Geiger
PART I CONCEPTUALIZING THE RELATIONSHIP OF
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, ETHICS AND
SUSTAINABILITY
2 International intellectual property, innovation, technology
transfer and sustainable development 12
Susy Frankel
3 A conceptual mapping on intellectual property law and
sustainability 26
Giulia Priora and Amanda Costa Novaes
4 (Re)discovering new innovations derived from historical
knowledge: fostering the responsible and ethical development
of sustainable innovations 38
Helen Yu
5 IP, sustainability and competition policy: looking for a
coherent framework 51
Nicola M.F. Faraone
6 An institutional perspective on the alignment of IP
frameworks with economic sustainability through inter- and
intra-regional agreements in Latin America 73
Suelen Carls and Mohamed Amal
PART II EXPLORING DIGITAL ETHICS, ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE AND THE RIGHT TO RESEARCH:
TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE IP?
7 Artificial intelligence, intellectual property, and sustainable
development 89
Peter K. Yu
8 AI ethics and creators' feelings: extended personality rights
as (property) rights to object 103
Guido Westkamp
9 Copyright protection for AI-generated works: is this
sustainable? 116
Irini Stamatoudi
10 Locating the creativity machine and mapping the contours of
a new social contract with technology 130
Paulius Jurcys, Mark Fenwick, Vytautas Mizaras and Davey
Whitcraft
11 The unsustainable patchwork of research exceptions in
European copyright law: insights from the I-REx index 148
Konrad Gliscinski
12 Ethical aspects and intellectual property compliance 168
Padmavati Manchikanti
13 Copyright and digital cultural heritage: using cultural
sustainability, ethics and human rights law to unpack
copyright misappropriation practices 179
Mando Rachovitsa and Marina Markellou
PART III APPROXIMATING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
WITH ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
IMPERATIVES WITHIN THE VARIOUS IP RIGHTS
14 Relying on sustainability logos: the role of brand trust in
motivating consumers' reliance on certification marks 195
Alexandra Mogyoros
15 Trademark liability in online marketplaces: balancing IP and
digital norms, social freedoms or goals 209
Agnieszka Sztoldman
16 Toward sustainable patent practices in Japan: unlocking
patent exhaustion in the digital age 222
Weiyu Zhang
17 Sustainable designs 236
Leanne Wiseman and Tyrone Berger
PART IV RECONCILING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
WITH ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
IMPERATIVES WITHIN DIFFERENT ECONOMIC
SECTORS
18 Distinctive signs and agricultural sustainability 247
Hsiao-Fen Hsu
19 Is the use of trade secrets in oil and gas extraction ethical and
sustainable? 261
Cristiana Sappa
20 Food traceability and sustainability: IP rights and regulatory
technology 277
Andrea Stazi
21 Unsustainability in the EU: an analysis from the perspective
of intellectual property law in the agri-food sector 292
Juan Antonio Vives-Valles
22 Ethical and sustainable innovation in the EU craft sector:
changes in GI regulation and impact in practice 309
Vishv Priya Kohli
List of contributors viii
1 Introduction to Intellectual Property, Ethical Innovation and
Sustainability 1
Christophe Geiger
PART I CONCEPTUALIZING THE RELATIONSHIP OF
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, ETHICS AND
SUSTAINABILITY
2 International intellectual property, innovation, technology
transfer and sustainable development 12
Susy Frankel
3 A conceptual mapping on intellectual property law and
sustainability 26
Giulia Priora and Amanda Costa Novaes
4 (Re)discovering new innovations derived from historical
knowledge: fostering the responsible and ethical development
of sustainable innovations 38
Helen Yu
5 IP, sustainability and competition policy: looking for a
coherent framework 51
Nicola M.F. Faraone
6 An institutional perspective on the alignment of IP
frameworks with economic sustainability through inter- and
intra-regional agreements in Latin America 73
Suelen Carls and Mohamed Amal
PART II EXPLORING DIGITAL ETHICS, ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE AND THE RIGHT TO RESEARCH:
TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE IP?
7 Artificial intelligence, intellectual property, and sustainable
development 89
Peter K. Yu
8 AI ethics and creators' feelings: extended personality rights
as (property) rights to object 103
Guido Westkamp
9 Copyright protection for AI-generated works: is this
sustainable? 116
Irini Stamatoudi
10 Locating the creativity machine and mapping the contours of
a new social contract with technology 130
Paulius Jurcys, Mark Fenwick, Vytautas Mizaras and Davey
Whitcraft
11 The unsustainable patchwork of research exceptions in
European copyright law: insights from the I-REx index 148
Konrad Gliscinski
12 Ethical aspects and intellectual property compliance 168
Padmavati Manchikanti
13 Copyright and digital cultural heritage: using cultural
sustainability, ethics and human rights law to unpack
copyright misappropriation practices 179
Mando Rachovitsa and Marina Markellou
PART III APPROXIMATING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
WITH ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
IMPERATIVES WITHIN THE VARIOUS IP RIGHTS
14 Relying on sustainability logos: the role of brand trust in
motivating consumers' reliance on certification marks 195
Alexandra Mogyoros
15 Trademark liability in online marketplaces: balancing IP and
digital norms, social freedoms or goals 209
Agnieszka Sztoldman
16 Toward sustainable patent practices in Japan: unlocking
patent exhaustion in the digital age 222
Weiyu Zhang
17 Sustainable designs 236
Leanne Wiseman and Tyrone Berger
PART IV RECONCILING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
WITH ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
IMPERATIVES WITHIN DIFFERENT ECONOMIC
SECTORS
18 Distinctive signs and agricultural sustainability 247
Hsiao-Fen Hsu
19 Is the use of trade secrets in oil and gas extraction ethical and
sustainable? 261
Cristiana Sappa
20 Food traceability and sustainability: IP rights and regulatory
technology 277
Andrea Stazi
21 Unsustainability in the EU: an analysis from the perspective
of intellectual property law in the agri-food sector 292
Juan Antonio Vives-Valles
22 Ethical and sustainable innovation in the EU craft sector:
changes in GI regulation and impact in practice 309
Vishv Priya Kohli