Coordination of Intellectual Property Law with the New European Data Law

By the end of 2023, the outgoing European Commission was able to present an impressive list of new legislation laying the ground for a new European data law, located at the interface of data protection, intellectual property, competition, consumer protection and tort law. As typically is the case, the drafters concentrated on the new rules, while confirming that the acquis communautaire should not be changed. In principle, this also applies to the new legislation‘s relationship with intellectual property law, including trade secrets protection, albeit with an important exception for the sui generis database right provided for in Article 43 Data Act. When the Institute drafted its Position Statement on the Commission’s Data Act Proposal in spring 2022, however, it realized that the intricate interface and interaction with intellectual property law deserved closer attention. Building on its analysis of the Data Act, the Institute decided to take the coordination of intellectual property law with the new data law as the topic of the EIPIN Conference held in Munich in June 2023. The Institute thus sought to increase awareness among legal scholars of the relevant issues, contribute its own research to the Conference and ultimately highlight additional need for legal reform.