This insightful discussion by Professor Jens H. Schovsbo from the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Law, focuses on the intricate balance between universities' traditional role as open knowledge hubs (‘Alma Mater’) and the growing reliance on trade secret protections in research. With a focus on the EU Directive and the fundamental ‘Right to Science,’ the event will examine how legal frameworks and collaborative research demands challenge academic freedom. On the practical level, the tension is accentuated and the positions muddled by the obvious needs for researchers and companies involved in collaborative research projects with universities to restrict access to research data and to uphold trade secrets. To avoid a normative creep of secrecy norms, universities should take proactive steps to cabin secrecy and to protect and safeguard the Alma Mater ideal. Professor Schovsbo will address the risks of overextending secrecy norms, the implications for non-commercial research, and strategies for aligning openness with legitimate confidentiality needs.
Speaker:
Jens H. Schovsbo, LL.D. and Ph.D., has been a professor of Intellectual Property Rights at the University of Copenhagen's Center for Information and Innovation Law (CIIR) since 2003. With a Danish LLM (cand.jur) earned in 1991, a PhD in 1996, and an LL.D. in 2001 from the same institution, Professor Schovsbo has authored over 10 Danish monographs and numerous articles in international law journals, focusing on the intersection of intellectual property and competition law. He has lectured globally, including in Scandinavia, China, France, and the US, and served as a visiting professor at the University of San Diego. He is a former president of ATRIP (2019–2021) and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich.