This chapter focuses on a series of legal and commercial issues raised by the ownership and voluntary use of ecolabels, which are signs, symbols or seals, used with goods or services, whose essential function is to indicate that the products in connection with which they are used satisfy criteria for environmental preferability or reduced environmental harm. Topics addressed include legal definitions and typology, ownership and governance, intellectual property rights, including certification, collective and ordinary trademark rights, environmental claims, and potential influence on international trade. The issues underlying the use and governance of ecolabels tend to be controversial because they are bound up with the perceptions of environmental protection and sustainability that they create. Such perceptions are notoriously difficult to pin down, varying with national and regional economic, social and political conditions. Key words: ecolabel; intellectual property; environmental claim; advert
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your Elgar Online account
-
Back Matter
