Constitutional vectors of intellectual property

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the constitutional foundations underlying the legal concept of intellectual property. It is based on the  premise of a delicate balance between the fair reward for intellectual effort  – secured through exclusive protection – and the promotion of industrial and 
cultural development, which requires the temporariness of such protection  to ensure subsequent access to the public domain. Within this framework,  the analysis traces the historical development of intellectual property protection in Brazil, from the colonial period to the 1988 Federal Constitution,  incorporates relevant doctrinal perspectives, and examines the interpretation given by the Federal Supreme Court in its judgment of Direct Action of  Unconstitutionality 5,529, particularly regarding the social function of intellectual property and the principle of free competition.