IP research does not often focus on transitions in legal regimes. This is hardly surprising. Usually lawyers, in analysing and interpreting legal rules, deal with the present and, sometimes, also with the future, by thinking up, discussing and advancing policy recommendations. Of course, in both cases some consideration of the past may be included. The extent of this historical input may vary, from scant to extensive, depending on the circumstances and the tastes of the scholar. Even so, the transition which led to the current situation or which is supposed to take us to the advocated legal reform is rarely given much more than cursory consideration. Thus, thinking about transitions in IP may hold some promise of opening up new vistas.