General Guidelines Concerning the Relation International Intellectual Property Business versus Human Rights and Civil Liberties

Today, the intellectual property protection is no longer an absolute social and legal that justifies adoption of any measures necessary to protect it. Initially seen as the prerequisite for sustainable development, implementation of new technologies, and encouragement of international trade, the intellectual property, especially prior to ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) international trial implementation, and also thereafter, was increasingly identified as a source of violation of fundamental rights and civil liberties, i.e. the right to protection of personal data, the right to privacy, freedom to send and receive information freedom of information, freedom to contract, and freedom to carry out economic activities (freedom of commerce). As far as international trade transactions have often a component of intellectual property that requires to be protected, it is necessary to identify the landmarks, the rules establishing de facto limits in order to protect the intellectual property without risk of infringement of fundamental rights and civil liberties of other persons, in particular users or potential users of goods and services incorporating intellectual property. The best guidelines in this regard may be provided by the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) case-law both due to its reasoning underlying the decision of the Parliament to reject ACTA ratification and the fact that the case-law of this Court, especially the most recent one, is highly complex and nuanced, not denying in any way the importance of intellectual property, and identifying certain cases where their primacy persist and whose analysis leads to laying down some general rules in the field