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IP Players
Links to institutions, blogs, media, and other inhabitants of the world of IP.

Staff Articles

PATENT REFORM
S. 1145 continues to recede into the distance, like the water-on-the-road mirage on a long auto trip. A couple of weeks ago, Hal Wegner noted: “The Congressional Quarterly manifests an expectation that the patent [More]

INTERNET FILTERING/TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
At CES in January, ATT said some good words about the idea of filtering the Internet for copyrighted content. [NY Times].  A panel at the Internet Caucus’ State of the Net Conference also looked the issue, and the FCC just [More]

ORPHAN WORKS
Two years ago, the problem of “orphan works” – those whose owners may be impossible to identify and locate – was high on the government’s IP agenda, largely because programs to [More]

Property Rights Alliance
2008 International Property Rights Index (IPRI)
The 2008 (IPRI) is an international comparative study that measures the significance of both physical and intellectual property rights and their protection for economic well-being, focusing on three areas: Legal and Political Environment (LP), Physical Property Rights (PPR), and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The current study analyzes data for 115 countries around the globe, representing 96% of world GDP.

Proposed Patent Reform Legislation: Limitations of Empirical Data Used To Inform the Public Policy Debate A Report Prepared for the Biotechnology Industry Organization
Ann Mills, MBA, M.sc. (Econ) & Patti Tereskerz, JD, Ph.D (Jan. 30, 2008)
The biotech industry examines three major studies cited to support patent reform and concludes: “The recommendations that the reports make are based more on conjecture, anecdote, and individual publicized cases, rather than upon empirical evidence” and, “The primary empirical evidence offered in the reports demonstrates that patents are not hampering innovation and successful commercialization.”

Supreme Neglect: How to Revive Constitutional Protection For Private Property
Richard Epstein (March 12, 2008)
"As far back as the Magna Carta in 1215, the right of private property was seen as a bulwark of the individual against the arbitrary power of the state. Indeed, common-law tradition holds that 'property is the guardian of every other right.' And yet, for most of the last seventy years, property rights had few staunch supporters in America. This latest addition to Oxford's Inalienable Rights series provides a succinct, pointed look at property rights in America--how they came to be, how they have evolved, and why they should once again be a mainstay of the law." (Amazon)

The Cato Institute will host a lunch forum on March 6, which is a bit ironic, considering Cato's miserable record of opposition to IP, a stance totally out of tune with Epstein's views, which see physical and intellectual property as a continuum. See his Intellectual Property for the Technological Age (2007).

Google the Destroyer
James V. DeLong, TCS Daily, Jan. 07, 2008

About IP Switchboard

Defining and protecting Intellectual Property is a crucial part of the high tech age.

Some impacts of IP are obvious: the promotion of innovation through the patent system, or copyright protection of music, movies, books, software, and other content. Some connections are more subtle, such as the effect of IP on international trade, Internet structure, investment and finance, and competition policy.

IP SWITCHBOARD connects these different areas, providing links to on-line resources, current controversies and news stories, events, and research, mixed with occasional commentary and the opportunities for discussion.

IP SWITCHBOARD regards intellectual property as one of the great engines of economic and social progress. But it also recognizes that effective IP policy requires clear definitions and limits, and developing these is a worthy challenge.