Title: Taking patents seriously

Authors: Helen Gubby, Pieter Kleve, Richard De Mulder

Addresses: Barrister, Lecturer Business Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands. ' Barrister, Lecturer Business Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands. ' Barrister, Lecturer Business Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands

Abstract: Do patents make economic sense? This question is as relevant today as it was at the time of the Industrial Revolution. The questions that troubled the judges are surprisingly similar. There are two issues in particular: what is the legal status of intellectual creations and what are the economic effects of a patent system? In the 18th century, judges struggled to determine how a patent for inventions fitted within the traditional description of property. Today, judges have struggled in a similar way with the legal status of software and whether it can be protected by a patent or only by copyright.

Keywords: patents; monitored IPR; non-monitored IPR; intellectual property rights; copyright; IPR history; industrial revolution; information society; IPR economic foundations; legal status; intellectual creations; software patents; inventions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIPM.2008.019338

International Journal of Intellectual Property Management, 2008 Vol.2 No.2, pp.153 - 163

Published online: 07 Jul 2008 *

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