Das Schutzhindernis der guten Sitten im gewerblichen Rechtsschutz

Morality exceptions to protection are ubiquitous in intellectual property law. However, there is a lack of clarity regarding their relevance and purpose. Based on the economic justifications for intellectual property rights, the article at hand and the dissertation it is based on demonstrate that morality clauses are of key importance for the proportionality of the intellectual property system as a whole. They ensure that free competition is not curtailed more than necessary with regard to societal needs. In addition, the article offers some core guidelines on how to apply the clauses in practice. Mainly, the paper proposes a unitary normative concept of morality in intellectual property law that separates itself from existing empirical and utilitarian approaches to define the term.