The limits of Intellectual Property: Exhaustion of rights, international trademarks and digital copyright

Strong Intellectual Property (IP) protection is a fundamental point in the establishment of a market for new products and services. IP can give significant power to the owner of intangible assets in financing, manufacturing or in general commercial transactions. However, as with any sort of power, too much of it can have detrimental effects. This work provides a discussion on the limits of IP by examining the exhaustion of rights doctrine. The paper briefly presents the legal evolution of the doctrine for trademarks and digital copyright. A discussion follows on the controversial concept of international exhaustion and on the most important points of digital exhaustion