Founding a Global Human Rights Culture for Trade Marks

This ground-breaking book demonstrates that states are not attentive enough to the serious human rights implications of trade mark protection. Important rights to freedom of expression, health, life, benefits from science and culture, privacy, a fair trial and protection from discrimination and hate speech are often insufficiently addressed.

The book develops an original approach that enables policy-makers to realise these rights, advocating for the development of a global human rights culture for trade marks. Using diverse examples from Australia, Uruguay, Europe, the United States and Kenya, Genevieve Wilkinson explores how trade mark protection can both promote and restrict human rights. Focusing on three detailed case studies – tobacco plain packaging, anti-counterfeiting measures and contrary marks – the book translates emerging human rights frameworks for health into a human rights framework for trade marks. It calls for greater attention to how trade marks can impact economic, social and cultural rights and proposes new ways to detect counterfeit trade marked goods.

Providing an innovative solution to an often overlooked problem, this book will be an invaluable guide for policy-makers and academics interested in human rights and intellectual property, and activists seeking to address conflicts between trade mark law and human rights law.

Genevieve Wilkinson, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney, Australia