These fundamental questions lie at the core of the research conducted by Camilla Signoretta, currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for a Digital Society of the European University Institute (EUI) and at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies. They have shaped her three-year PhD journey at the Sant’Anna School, culminating in a body of work that critically explores the boundaries of IPRs in the European context. The findings of this research will be presented during an online event and discussed in conversation with Marco Botta.

EU intellectual property law faces a growing tension: while IP rights confer exclusivity, their exercise can sometimes exceed the functions that justify them. How should such distortive uses be addressed?

This article argues that EU law already contains the foundations of a coherent answer. Drawing on the logic of abuse of rights, it shows how the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has developed doctrinal tools, such as the existence/exercise distinction and the notions of specific subject matter and essential function, to curb overly expansive uses of IP rights, reflecting the rationale of Article 8(2) TRIPS. Across copyright, trademark, and patent law, EU and national courts rely on different legal tests to tackle distortive practices.

The presented work, drawing inspiration from the speaker’s PhD thesis, contends that these tests share a common underlying logic. Through a comparative analysis of CJEU case law and selected national jurisdictions, it identifies recurring parameters used to detect excessive uses of IP rights and brings them together in a structured framework.

The research work ultimately shows that emerging limits in EU IP law are not fragmented, but part of a coherent, function-based approach to constraining the exercise of IP rights.

This event is organised with the Law, Rationalism, and Complexity WG and the Competition Law WG.