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 examines 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. What IPRs a ... More

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 examines 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. What IPRs are good for, and what they should achieve depends upon the law which defines them. There is great international, as well as national pressure for new laws, and in Europe, the EU is now the dominant force in shaping intellectual property policy. Against this background, this book surveys current arguments over legal policy in this field.