Trade Mark Protection, Public Health and International Investment Law: Strains and Paradoxes
Trade Mark Protection, Public Health and International Investment Law: Strains and Paradoxes
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商标保护、公共卫生和国际投资法：压力和悖论
DOI：
10.1093/ejil/chp058
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发表时间：
2009
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
V. Vadi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
V. Vadi
本文旨在探讨国际投资法中商标保护的二律背反和悖论。商标保护对公众健康的负面影响似乎违反直觉，甚至是自相矛盾的。强有力的商标保护通常与对消费者保护的积极影响联系在一起，更普遍的是，人们对商标有一种神秘的思考。品牌被认为是竞争经济的基石，鼓励个人尽其所能，使他们的产品为公众所认可，这将决定他们最终的成功。然而，近年来立法者和法官过分扩大了商标所有人的权利，损害了公众的利益，这是一种普遍的批评。在某些情况下，企业以一种激进的方式使用商标，以削弱公共卫生监管。在国际层面上，这种扩张最终决定了知识产权法与国际公法其他分支之间矛盾的出现。本文将对国际商标保护进行批判性的评估，以验证这种悖论和由此产生的系统矛盾是否可以得到解决。本文还提出了一些法律机制，可以帮助决策者和审查员在国际投资法中协调商标保护和公共健康。
This article aims at exploring the antinomies and paradoxes of trade mark protection in international investment law. The negative impact of trade mark protection on public health seems counterintuitive or even paradoxical. Strong trade mark protection is usually associated with positive effects on consumer protection and, more generally, there is a sort of mystical thinking about trade marks. Brand names are deemed the keystone of a competitive economy, where individuals are encouraged to do the best they can and make their products recognizable to the public, who will determine their eventual success. However, it is a common criticism that in recent years law makers and judges have expanded the rights of trade mark owners too far, at the expense of the common weal. In some cases, trade marks have been used in an aggressive fashion by corporations in order to chill public health regulation. At the international level, this expansion ultimately determines the emergence of antinomies between intellectual property law and other branches of public international law. This article critically assesses international trade mark protection in order to verify whether such a paradox and the consequent systemic antinomies may be resolved. It also puts forward some legal mechanisms which may help policy makers and adjudicators to reconcile trade mark protection and public health in international investment law.