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Intellectual Property Law Commons

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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Intellectual Property Law

Imperfect Property Rights, James Bessen Oct 2009

Imperfect Property Rights, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

In theory, property rights allow markets to achieve Pareto optimal allocations. But the literature on contracting largely ignores what happens when property rights are imperfectly defined and enforced. Although some models include weak enforcement or poorly defined rights or "anticommons," this paper develops a general model that includes all of these possibilities. I find that combinations matter: Policy prescriptions to remedy individual imperfections are sometimes inappropriate under other conditions. For example, stronger penalties for violating rights can decrease Pareto efficiency, contrary to a common view. Also, collective rights organizations, such as patent pools, sometimes worsen problems of overlapping claims.


Harmless Use: Gleaning From Fields Of Copyrighted Works, Wendy J. Gordon Apr 2009

Harmless Use: Gleaning From Fields Of Copyrighted Works, Wendy J. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

I will first provide a brief comment about what I think brings us all together. Second, I will talk about a particular project - something that has preoccupied me ever since I entered the field - namely, the distinction between what I will call, for sake of abbreviation, harmful use and harmless use.


Outline Of Art And The Intrinsic Worth Of A Human Life - 2009, Wendy J. Gordon Jan 2009

Outline Of Art And The Intrinsic Worth Of A Human Life - 2009, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

We want to believe we have intrinsic importance. We want to believe our loved ones do too. That's one of the things that makes age and death so scary: at some point no one will know that green dress was the one grandma wore to your parents' wedding, all that matters to you will no longer matter to anyone. But we want to feel that living DID matter.


Notes On Art And The Intrinsic Worth Of A Human Life - 2009, Wendy J. Gordon Jan 2009

Notes On Art And The Intrinsic Worth Of A Human Life - 2009, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Recall Tina Turner's famous song, where the singer pounds the audience repeatedly with the insistent apparent question: "what's love got to do with it!?" We know she's not really asking, "What's love got to do with it"; she's making a statement. What she wants to do is deny love's force, and free herself from its disappointment. The singer's seeming repudiation of love is an attempted eradication of something that is definitely still part of her.


Death From The Public Domain?, Kevin Outterson Jan 2009

Death From The Public Domain?, Kevin Outterson

Faculty Scholarship

In his recent article in the Texas Law Review, Ben Roin advances the claim that pharmaceutical innovation and the public’s health are harmed by the doctrines of non-obviousness and novelty. He does not mince words, labeling the nonobvious requirement as “perversity” with a “pernicious” effect on drug development. In his view, these standards pose an insurmountable barrier for drug companies seeking to commercialize inventions already in the public domain. He claims that valuable, life-saving drug ideas languish in the public domain because the companies face high barriers to entry from the FDA, but potential free riders are encouraged through the …


Sequential Innovation, Patents, And Imitation, James Bessen, Eric Maskin Jan 2009

Sequential Innovation, Patents, And Imitation, James Bessen, Eric Maskin

Faculty Scholarship

How could such industries as software, semiconductors, and computers have been so innovative despite historically weak patent protection? We argue that if innovation is both sequential and complementary--as it certainly has been in those industries--competition can increase firms' future profits thus offsetting short-term dissipation of rents. A simple model also shows that in such a dynamic industry, patent protection may reduce overall innovation and social welfare. The natural experiment that occurred when patent protection was extended to software in the 1980?s provides a test of this model. Standard arguments would predict that R&D intensity and productivity should have increased among …


Trespass-Copyright Parallels And The Harm-Benefit Distinction, Wendy J. Gordon Jan 2009

Trespass-Copyright Parallels And The Harm-Benefit Distinction, Wendy J. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Currently, the elements of a plaintiff’s cause of action for copyright largely follow the tort of trespass to land in that volitional entry (for land) or volitional copying (for copyright) gives rise to liability regardless of proof of harm and without any need for the plaintiff to prove the defendant acted unreasonably. Many scholars have criticized copyright law for following the strict liability model of real property trespass, and have suggested alternatives that would more resemble conditional causes of action such as unfair competition, nuisance, or negligence. In Foreseeability and Copyright Incentives, Professor Shyamkrishna Balganesh argues that copyright plaintiffs …


Handwritten Notes On Art And The Intrinsic Worth Of A Human Life - 2009, Wendy J. Gordon Jan 2009

Handwritten Notes On Art And The Intrinsic Worth Of A Human Life - 2009, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

At fifteen I found myself looking at a tree against the sky and being filled up with something bigger than I could contain. It was a sensation that demanded to be poured into something. The best label I could find for the emotion was "gratitude": Gratitude for the world I had not made, but had been given.


Lecture Draft Of Art And The Intrinsic Worth Of A Human Life - 2009, Wendy J. Gordon Jan 2009

Lecture Draft Of Art And The Intrinsic Worth Of A Human Life - 2009, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

I've taken advantage of Tom's invitation to write a paper on religion and copyright that was "informal in format, in keeping with the informal nature of this gathering". What I have had to say on the Jewish law of gleaning is already on record; 1 what you'll read here are more like meditations. Thinking about the connections between art, spirituality and law has touched some very personal issues for me. Further, I know that everything I have to say is partial. I hope what I am about to give you will nevertheless raise some questions of interest.


Notes On Gift Failure Versus Market Failure: Analyzing The Generation And Circulation Of Intellectual Products - 2009, Wendy J. Gordon Jan 2009

Notes On Gift Failure Versus Market Failure: Analyzing The Generation And Circulation Of Intellectual Products - 2009, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Gifts and gift exchanges can serve a combination of economic, personal, social and humanitarian ends. This article explores how intellectual products are unusually capable of serving these ends through gift relations, and suggests ways in which the law can assist in this process.


Of Patents And Property, Michael J. Meurer, James Bessen Jan 2009

Of Patents And Property, Michael J. Meurer, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

Do patents behave substantially like property rights in tangible assets, in that they encourage development and innovation? This article notes that historical evidence, cross-country evidence, economic experiments, and estimates of net benefits all indicate that general property rights institutions have a substantial direct effect on economic growth. Conversely, with a few important exceptions like chemicals and pharmaceuticals, empirical evidence indicates that intellectual property rights have at best only a weak and indirect effect on economic growth. Further, it appears that for public firms in most industries today, patents may actually discourage investment in innovation for fear of winding up on …