Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2023 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: 72, University of Kent, course: Contemporary Topics in IP Law, language: English, abstract: This Paper argues that the EU needs to adopt a harmonised policy framework promoting the right to repair and limiting manufacturers' use of IPRs on software to restrict repair rights which ultimately impacts the achievement of sustainability goals. Part B begins with the origins of the right to repair movement and its significance. Part C discusses restrictions on repair rights, including the role of IPRs. Part D discusses how the EU legal framework recognises repair rights and contrasts this with the Australian approach. Part E discusses the suggestions of scholars on reforms to the EU legal framework to better tackle restrictions on repair rights. Modern electronics constitute not only the hardware in the device itself but also the embedded software that is critical to the device's functionality. This software is usually pre-installed on the device by the manufacturer to run all its basic operations. This integration of software systems to devices, sometimes called the "softening of hardware", requires the intervention of intellectual property rights (IPRs) to delineate the blurry lines separating the device and its functional components in software. Consequently, manufacturers use IPRs on the embedded software to limit the consumer's control over a device and effectively lock them out from doing basic repairs to restore functionality. These limitations discourage many consumers from pursuing repairs in favour of purchasing new devices and discarding the faulty ones. The result is a linear model of consumption and a throw away culture contributing to large amounts of electronics waste (e-waste) disposed worldwide. In 2019, consumer electronics comprised 54 million Metric Tons of e-waste, with Europe contributing 12 million Metric Tons.

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2023 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: 72, University of Kent, course: Contemporary Topics in IP Law, language: English, abstract: This Paper argues that the EU needs to adopt a harmonised policy framework promoting the right to repair and limiting manufacturers’ use of IPRs on software to restrict repair rights which ultimately impacts the achievement of sustainability goals. Part B begins with the origins of the right to repair movement and its significance. Part C discusses restrictions on repair rights, including the role of IPRs. Part D discusses how the EU legal framework recognises repair rights and contrasts this with the Australian approach. Part E discusses the suggestions of scholars on reforms to the EU legal framework to better tackle restrictions on repair rights. Modern electronics constitute not only the hardware in the device itself but also the embedded software that is critical to the device’s functionality. This software is usually pre-installed on the device by the manufacturer to run all its basic operations. This integration of software systems to devices, sometimes called the "softening of hardware", requires the intervention of intellectual property rights (IPRs) to delineate the blurry lines separating the device and its functional components in software. Consequently, manufacturers use IPRs on the embedded software to limit the consumer’s control over a device and effectively lock them out from doing basic repairs to restore functionality. These limitations discourage many consumers from pursuing repairs in favour of purchasing new devices and discarding the faulty ones. The result is a linear model of consumption and a throw away culture contributing to large amounts of electronics waste (e-waste) disposed worldwide. In 2019, consumer electronics comprised 54 million Metric Tons of e-waste, with Europe contributing 12 million Metric Tons. Worse still, the effects of e-waste pileups have for decades flowed downstream from developed to developing countries. In response, the European Union (EU) has focused on achieving a circular economy to reduce e-waste by extending the lifespan and usability of products through, inter alia, recognising the right to repair movement.

The "right to repair" movement calls for government legislation that requires manufacturers to provide repair information, tools and parts so that consumers can independently repair their own products with more ease. The initiative has gained global traction in recent years and become a subject of contentious debate. Repair advocates argue that such legislation would break manufacturers' monopoly on the repair market and benefit consumers. They further contend that consumers with the right to repair would no longer buy as many new products or prematurely scrap as many old ones, thereby reducing the environmental impact from both production (e.g., emissions) and disposal (e.g., e-waste). However, many manufacturers dread that the right-to-repair legislation would hurt their bottom line and thus often lobby against it. This paper employs an analytical model to scrutinize these claims. We find that contrary to conventional wisdom, giving consumers the right to repair may boost profit, but in other cases, may lead to lower consumer surplus and/or higher environmental impact. Under the right condition, the right-to-repair legislation can be a "win-win-win" proposition that benefits manufacturers, consumers and the environment alike. Under some other circumstances, though, it may lead to a "lose-lose-lose" outcome that is both socially and environmentally undesirable.

Complex geopolitical debate surrounds the role of intellectual property (IP) in advancing and achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Summarising and advancing this discourse, this prescient Companion is a thorough examination of how IP law interacts, influences and impacts each of the seventeen SDGs.

In recent decades, companies around the world have deployed an arsenal of tools-including IP law, hardware design, software restrictions, pricing strategies, and marketing messages-to prevent consumers from fixing the things they own. While this strategy has enriched companies almost beyond measure, it has taken billions of dollars out of the pockets of consumers and imposed massive environmental costs on the planet. In The Right to Repair, Aaron Perzanowski analyzes the history of repair to show how we've arrived at this moment, when a battle over repair is being waged-largely unnoticed-in courtrooms, legislatures, and administrative agencies. With deft, lucid prose, Perzanowski explains the opaque and complex legal landscape that surrounds the right to repair and shows readers how to fight back.

The most important theme of the discourse on sustainable development and sustainability challenges concerns the relationship between innovation and sustainability. This book represents a realistic critical overview of the state of affairs of sustainable innovations, offering an accessible and comprehensive diagnostic point of reference for both the academic and practitioner worlds. In order for sustainable innovation to truly become mainstream practice in business it is necessary to find out how organizations can strategically and efficiently accommodate sustainability and innovation in such a manner that they accomplish value capturing (for firms, stakeholders, and for society), not merely creating a return on the social responsibility agenda. Addressing this challenge, the book draws together research from a range of perspectives in order to understand the potential shifts and barriers, benefits, and outcomes from all angles: inception, strategic process, and impact for companies and society. The book also delivers insights of (open) innovation in public sector organizations, which is not so much a process of invention as it is one of adoption and diffusion. It examines how the environmental pillar of the triple bottom line in private firms is often a by-product of thinking about the economic pillar, where cost reductions may be achieved through process innovation in terms of eliminating waste and reducing energy consumption. The impact of open innovation on process innovation, and sustainable process innovation in particular, is an underexplored area but is examined in this book. It also considers the role of the individual entrepreneur in bringing about sustainable innovation; entrepreneurs, their small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as the innovation ecosystems they build play a significant role in generating sustainable innovations where these smaller organizations are much more flexible than large organizations in targeting societal needs and challenges. The readership will incorporate PhD students and postgraduate researchers, as well as practitioners from organizational advisory fields.

This book presents an overview of the key debates that took place during the Economic and Social Council meetings at the 2007 High-level Segment, at which ECOSOC organized its first biennial Development Cooperation Forum. The discussions also revolved around the theme of the second Annual Ministerial Review, "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development."--P. 4 of cover.