Intellectual Property

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are increasingly significant elements of economic policy: they are vital to developed countries in an age of global trade. Today's astounding new technologies, stemming from the digital and biotechnological revolutions are creating new problems. This book focusses on the major dilemmas that currently enmesh the subject: the omnipresent spread of IPRs across some recent technologies, the distraction caused by rights that achieve little of their intended purpose, and the seeming irrelevance of IPRs in the face of new technologies such as the internet. Against this background, Cornish surveys current arguments over legal policy in this field, touching on issues surrounding the patenting of biotechnological and genetic innovations; the threat posed to copyrights in publishing, computer programming, and record and film production by the internet; and the tension between legal protection of brands, the freedom to compete, and the drive for 'fair trading'.