The limitation of the data protection right for the purpose of intellectual property rights protection

Abstract

The right to privacy presents one of the most important personal rights as well as strong barrier and the assurance of personal sphere of each of us. Regardless of such importance, the right to privacy cannot and should not be unlimited. Usually, the rights of an individual are limited by the rights of another individual. Hence, it is common to make the balance between the colliding rights and decide which right should prevail. The legal protection of personal data, as a form of privacy, is no exception to that matter, so data protection right can also be limited. Among the other things, it is possible that collision occurs between data protection right of one person and intellectual property rights of another. This is especially feasible, since the intellectual property right holder in civil proceedings can be granted by courts an order for disclosure of information about identity of persons that were involved in the right infringement. The disclosure of personal data of persons involved in infringement could be challenging regarding the data protection right as well as to right to privacy of these persons. Therefore, the author in following paper examines the possibility of limiting the data protection rights for the purpose of protection the intellectual property rights by analyzing the Court of Justice of European Union decisions using the dogmatic and comparative method. The conclusions of this court as well as doctrine could be important for positioning the intellectual property right in legal system and resolving the tension between right on property and right to privacy in this matter.