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The standard forms of intellectual property protection, namely copyright, patents, trademarks and trade secrets, have a long history and are well regulated in the legisla- tive systems of most jurisdictions. However, there are specific kinds of subject matter that, due to their characteristics, cannot be adequately protected by these standard forms of intellectual property instruments. At the same time, these categories of subject matter require legal protection in order to ensure the balance between the public’s access to these creations and the creators’ rights. For these reasons, many jurisdictions introduce special forms of intellectual property protection, namely sui generis regimes.

As used in this volume, the term “sui generis rights” refers to intellectual property rights used for protection of specific subject matter and different from the traditional forms of intellectual property rights (copyright, trademarks, patent, trade secret), thus reflecting the literal meaning of the Latin term (“of its own kind”).

The purpose of this book is to examine the nature of, and the rationale for, sui generis intellectual property protection and, based on case studies of three cate- gories of subject matter (databases, designs and plant varieties), to determine whether granting sui generis rights is the optimal solution to provide legal protection for the analyzed categories of subject matter. The final chapter of this book aims to evaluate the perspectives of introducing a sui generis regime for the protection of works generated by AI systems.

There have been a number of research projects examining the question of whether sui generis intellectual property protection should be granted for specific categories of subject matter. For instance, Suthersanen analyzed the case of utility model sui generis laws by way of examining the theoretical justifications for providing an alternative sui generis regime, as well as by looking at national case studies, partic- ularly the examples of Japan and Australia.1 Goldstein examined the use of a suimgeneris regime for the protection of compilations of data, focusing on the prac- tical aspects of the sui generis system for businesses.2 Bizer, Lankau, Spindler und Zimbehl analyzed the economic and political implications of sui generis rights for the protection of traditional cultural expressions, evaluating economic effects that can be expected to result from these regulatory alternatives.3 Phillips described the current dissatisfaction with the protection for computer software by copyright law and discussed the alternative sui generis protection, proposing a legislative program for the protection of computer software.4 Correa provided a detailed history of the sui generis rights for plant varieties and focused on the peculiarities of these rights in India, Thailand and Malaysia.5

However, there has been little comparative study of sui generis intellectual property protection that would evaluate the effectiveness of sui generis regimes and estimate whether the goals pursued by the legislators introducing sui generis regimes for different kinds of subject matter have been achieved. Thus, this book is aimed at filling this gap and contributing to a better understanding of sui generis intellectual property rights.

This book is divided into five chapters. The first chapter will introduce the problem of sui generis intellectual property protection and will examine the nature of, and the reasons for, emerging of sui generis intellectual property rights. This chapter opens with examining the concept of intellectual property and describing the various rationales for intellectual property legal protection. A description of development of intellectual property over time and its extension to new subject matter will follow. Such summary of the theoretical basics of intellectual property, including the economic, social, and political rationales behind it, is crucial for understanding the reasons why new forms of intellectual property emerge. This chapter further demonstrates why the standard forms of intellectual property legal protection are sometimes not enough to protect certain categories of subject matter, which triggers introduction of sui generis rights. In its final part, this chapter will examine how the sui generis rights fit into the intellectual property legal framework.