Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: The Invisible Infrastructure of Innovation
- PART I INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DYNAMICS IN SOCIETY
- 1 Intellectual Property and the Innovation Cycle
- 2 The Rise of the Intellectual Property System
- 3 Keeping the System in Balance: Exclusion and Access
- PART II BASICS OF MANAGING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN ORGANIZATIONS
- PART III STEPS TO STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
- PART IV STRATEGIES ON A GLOBAL STAGE
- APPENDIX A Excerpts from TRIPS Agreement
- APPENDIX B Intellectual Property Non-Policy
- APPENDIX C Intellectual Property Assessment Questionnaire
- APPENDIX D Research Tools for Obtaining Intellectual Property Information
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Keeping the System in Balance: Exclusion and Access
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: The Invisible Infrastructure of Innovation
- PART I INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DYNAMICS IN SOCIETY
- 1 Intellectual Property and the Innovation Cycle
- 2 The Rise of the Intellectual Property System
- 3 Keeping the System in Balance: Exclusion and Access
- PART II BASICS OF MANAGING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN ORGANIZATIONS
- PART III STEPS TO STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
- PART IV STRATEGIES ON A GLOBAL STAGE
- APPENDIX A Excerpts from TRIPS Agreement
- APPENDIX B Intellectual Property Non-Policy
- APPENDIX C Intellectual Property Assessment Questionnaire
- APPENDIX D Research Tools for Obtaining Intellectual Property Information
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The chapter begins with an outline of the debate over the pros and cons of intellectual property laws. Eight arguments on each side are presented. Considering the points on both sides, we can see the need for IP laws to balance public access and private exclusivity. This leads to a critique of the term “public domain” and an effort to map a broader category of knowledge referred to as the accessible domain. Looking at IP rights in this way, we can find new ways to rebalance the international legal system. The tensions in the global IP system suggest such a rebalancing is underway. The chapter concludes by reviewing the possible future scenarios for IP laws, whether stronger, weaker, more uniform, or more diverse.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PRO AND CON
What is the modern rationale for protecting intellectual property? Intellectual property laws are intended to promote technical ingenuity and cultural creativity by granting private ownership rights. As the World Intellectual Property Organization states:
Protection of intellectual property is not an end in itself: it is a means to encourage creative activity, industrialization, investment, and honest trade. All this is designed to contribute more safety and comfort, less poverty and more beauty, in the lives of men.
But there is no consensus on whether intellectual property actually achieves these goals, and how strong the protections should be in any given situation. Ever-stronger intellectual property protection is surely not a panacea to promote technology progress and well-being in all countries and industries.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Driving InnovationIntellectual Property Strategies for a Dynamic World, pp. 36 - 60Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008