Dilemmas of Trademark Protection and the Need for the Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Social and Economic Life

This article answers the question of whether trademark regulations and case law promote the aims of international and EU law regarding the inclusion of persons with disabilities in social and economic life, which includes the involvement of persons with disabilities as consumers of goods and services, or whether they generate a conflict between the principles of trademark protection and the accessibility of trademarks for persons with disabilities. Trademark law and its interpretation is developing in parallel with the development of the concept of access and the inclusion of people with disabilities in every sphere of life. Both the content of the legislation and, in particular, trademark decisions fail to take into account the disability perspective, thus the law perpetuates an approach that denies people with disabilities the possibility to be consumers and to distinguish the origin of products to the same extent as non-disabled people. It is possible to introduce changes through minor steps in order not to revolutionise but only to complement the trademark system with a disability perspective, and thus meet the requirements of including people with disabilities in social and economic life.