Intellectual Property Law
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From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Intellectual property (IP) is a term referring to a number of
distinct types of legal monopolies over creations of the mind, both artistic
and commercial, and the corresponding fields of law.[1] Under intellectual
property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of
intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works;
discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common
types of intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents,
industrial design rights and trade secrets in some jurisdictions.
Although many of the legal principles governing intellectual property have
evolved over centuries, it was not until the 19th century that the term
intellectual property began to be used, and not until the late 20th century
that it became commonplace in the United States
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Financial incentive
These exclusive rights allow owners of intellectual property to reap
monopoly profits. These monopoly profits provide a financial incentive for
the creation of intellectual property, and pay associated research and
development costs.[citation needed] Some commentators, such as David Levine
and Michele Boldrin, dispute this justification.[3]
Economic growth
The legal monopoly granted by IP laws are credited with significant
contributions toward economic growth.[citation needed] Economists estimate
that two-thirds of the value of large businesses in the U.S. can be traced
to intangible assets.[citation needed] "IP-intensive industries" are
estimated to produce 72 percent more value added per employee than
"non-IP-intensive industries".[4][dubious – discuss]
A joint research project of the WIPO and the United Nations University
measuring the impact of IP systems on six Asian countries found "a positive
correlation between the strengthening of the IP system and subsequent
economic growth." [5] However, correlation does not necessarily mean
causation: given that the patent holders can freely relocate, the Nash
equilibrium predicts they will obviously prefer operating in countries with
strong IP laws.[neutrality is disputed] In some of the cases, the economic
growth that comes with a stronger IP system[neutrality is disputed] is due
to increase in stock capital from direct foreign investment, as was shown
for Taiwan[6] after the 1986 reform.
Economics
Intellectual property rights are temporary state-enforced monopolies
regarding use and expression of ideas and information.
Intellectual property rights are usually limited to non-rival goods, that
is, goods which can be used or enjoyed by many people simultaneously—the use
by one person does not exclude use by another. This is compared to rival
goods, such as clothing, which may only be used by one person at a time. For
example, any number of people may make use of a mathematical formula
simultaneously. Some objections to the term intellectual property are based
on the argument that property can only properly be applied to rival goods
(or that one cannot "own" property of this sort).
Since a non-rival good may be simultaneously used (copied, for example) by
many people (produced with minimal marginal cost), monopolies over
distribution and use of works are meant to give producers incentive to
create further works. The establishment of intellectual property rights,
therefore, represents a trade-off, to balance the interest of society in the
creation of non-rival goods (by encouraging their production) with the
problems of monopoly power. Since the trade-off and the relevant benefits
and costs to society will depend on many factors that may be specific to
each product and society, the optimum period of time during which the
temporary monopoly rights should exist is unclear.[ |
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Intellectual Property Law
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