Intellectual Property
Intellectual property refers to products of the mind or intellect. It is the natural right to control the use and distribution of one's artistic, literary, or technological creation. It covers a wide range of products from a new drug to a new innovative steel manufacturing process and everything in between.
There are several important characteristics of intellectual property:
There are generally four justifications for the protection of intellectual property:
Copyfraud and Other Abuses of Intellectual Property Law by
Intellectual property law in the United States does not work well and it needs to be reformed—but not for the reasons given by most critics. The issue is not that intellectual property rights are too easily obtained, too broad in scope, and too long in duration. Rather, the primary problem is overreaching by publishers, producers, artists, and others who abuse intellectual property law by claiming stronger rights than the law actually gives them. From copyfraud—like phony copyright notices attached to the U.S. Constitution—to lawsuits designed to prevent people from poking fun at Barbie, from controversies over digital sampling in hip-hop to Major League Baseball's ubiquitous restriction on sharing any'accounts and descriptions of this game,'overreaching claims of intellectual property rights are everywhere. Overreaching interferes with legitimate uses and reproduction of a wide variety of works, imposes enormous social and economic costs, and ultimately undermines creative endeavors. As this book reveals, the solution is not to change the scope or content of intellectual property rights, but to create mechanisms to prevent people asserting rights beyond those they legitimately possess. While there are many other books on intellectual property, this is the first to examine overreaching as a distinct problem and to show how to solve it. Jason Mazzone makes a series of timely proposals by which government, organizations, and ordinary people can stand up to creators and content providers when they seek to grab more than the law gives them.
Essentials of Intellectual Property: Law, Economics, and Strategy by
"The definitive primer on intellectual property for business professionals, non-IP attorneys, entrepreneures, and inventors Full of valuable tips, techniques, illustrative real-world examples, exhibits, and best practices, the Second Edition of this handy and concise paperback will help you stay up to date on the newest thinking, strategies, developments, and caselaw in intellectual property. Presents fundamentals of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and other less-know forms of IP, such as registered design and mask works Covers important concepts such as IP strategy, protection, audits, valuation, management, and competitive intelligence Offers an introduction to IP licensing and enforcement Now features discussion of critical precedent-setting recent IP cases and proposed patent reform Providing buiness professionals and IP owners with in-depth knowledge of this extremely important subject, this book helps those new to this field gain a better understanding and appreciation for the results of their creative abilities. "-- Provided by publisher.
Intellectual Liberty: Natural Rights and Intellectual Property by
Considering the steady increase in intellectual property rights in the last century, does it make sense to speak of'user's rights'and can limitations on intellectual liberty be justified from a rights-based perspective? This book philosophically defends the importance of the public domain and user's rights through the use of natural-rights thought. Utilizing primarily the work of John Locke, it contends that considerations of natural justice and human freedom impose powerful constraints on the proper reach and substance of intellectual property rights, especially copyright. It investigates both the internal and external natural-rights constraints on intellectual property, and argues in particular for the importance to human freedom of the right to intellectual liberty - the right to inform one's actions by learning about the world. It concludes that respect for fundamental freedom-based interests require a balanced approach to the scope, strength and duration of intellectual property rights.
Intellectual Property: From Creation to Commercialisation - A Practical Guide for Innovators and Researchers by
For many knowledge-intensive or technology-based start-up companies, the professional management of intellectual property (IP) is critically important. In fact, IP may be the main asset by which the value of a young company is determined and on which decisions to invest in the company are based – and so IP needs to be considered very early in the planning process. Intellectual Property: From Creation to Commercialisation provides a detailed grounding for innovators and researchers. The book starts with the source of innovation – that is, at the point where resourcefulness and creativity combine to develop new opportunities through problem-solving – and examines the critical steps that need to be carefully managed in the process surrounding the creation of IP and managing its development from concept through to exploitation. This involves the steps of identifying, capturing and assessing the value of IP. Useful recommendations for managing the transfer of IP from a research environment to the knowledge economy are provided and case studies illustrate pitfalls to watch out for. Readers can expect to gain a broad understanding of IP and the innovation process. Specifically, they will learn: the benefits of implementing procedures to ensure that IP can be protected, managed and exploited effectively; how to assess the most appropriate routes to market, such as licensing or sale of their IP, or establishing a spin-out company to deliver a service or product offering and how to present a viable business case to potential funders and investors.
Intellectual Property Rights by
In recent years, intellectual property rights (IPR) both in the form of patents and copyrights have expanded in their coverage, the width and depth of protection, and the tightness in their enforcement. Moreover, for the first time in history, the IPR regime has become increasingly uniform at international level by means of the TRIPS agreement, irrespectively of the degrees of development of the various countries. The book, first, addresses from different angles the effects of IPR on the processes of innovation and innovation diffusion in general, and with respect to developing countries in particular. Contrary to a widespread view there is very little evidence that the rates of innovation increase with the tightness of IPR even in developed countries. Conversely, in many circumstances tight IPR represents an obstacle to imitation and innovation diffusion in developing countries. What can policies do then? This is the second major theme of the book which offers several detailed discussions of possible policy measures even within the current TRIPS regime including the exploitation of the waivers to IPR enforcement that it contains, various forms of development of technological commons, and non patent rewards to innovators, such as prizes. Some drawbacks of the regimes, however, are unavoidable: hence the advocacy in many contributions to the book of deep reforms of the system in both developed and developing countries, including the non patentability of scientific discoveries, the reduction of the depth and width of IPR patents, and the of IPR
Intellectual Property Rights: Protections and Enforcement by
Intellectual property rights (IPR) traditionally have been matters of national concern. Individual nation states have developed IPR regimes reflecting their domestic needs and priorities. Over time, intellectual property protection and enforcement have come to the forefront as a key international trade issue for the United States, figuring prominently in the multilateral trade policy arena and in regional and bilateral U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs). This book reflects the Administration's resolve to encourage and maintain adequate and effective IPR protection and enforcement world-wide. It identifies a wide range of concerns, including troubling indigenous innovation policies that may unfairly disadvantage U.S. rights holders in China, the continuing challenges of copyright piracy over the Internet in countries such as Canada, Italy, and Russia, and other ongoing, systemic IPR enforcement issues presented in many trading partners around the world.
Justifying Intellectual Property by
In a sophisticated defense of intellectual property, Merges draws on Kant, Locke, and Rawls to explain how IP rights are based on a solid ethical foundation and make sense for a just society. He also calls for appropriate boundaries: IP rights are real, but they come with real limits.
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