"Intellectual Property" by Granstrand and Holgersson (2014) Flashcards
What is a property and what is intellectual property?
A property can be defined as a resource with some form of assigned ownership, and an intellectual property is then a property of intellectual or intangible character.
What is an intellectual property right (IPR)?
An intellectual property right (IPR) is a legally codified right created and used to assign ownership to intellectual resources such as knowledge, technologies, brand names, and other types of intellectual creations.
IPRs _ others from commercializing someone’s intellectual or intangible creations under certain conditions.
exclude
What are the main types of intellectual property rights?
The main types of IPR are patent rights to technical inventions, copyrights to creations in various arts (including software as a kind of border case), design rights to physical artistic and handicraft forms or designs, trademark rights to signs, designs, identity marks, or expressions that identify a certain entity, product, or service, and trade secret rights to trade secrets.
To obtain a patent of invention, the application must be: _, _, and _.
Novel/new, Useful, and Non-obvious
How long do patent rights typically last?
The maximum lifetime is 20 years for patents (with some exceptions).
How long do copyrights last?
50 to 100 years after the creator’s death.
How long do design rights last?
14 (US) to 25 (Europe) years for design rights.
How are trade secret rights different?
Trade secret rights differ in that they are unregistered and could be kept indefinitely (although they could also leak quickly).
Can trademark rights be prolonged indefinitely?
Yes, by renewing them.
Why are IPRs granted?
IPRs are granted mainly to incentivize investments in creation and commercialization of new intellectual resources, and to incentivize the disclosure of informational resources.
What is the utilitarian justification for IPRs?
Various IPRs are granted in order to improve the provision of innovations of various kinds to the benefit of consumers and society in general.
What is the moral justification for IPRs?
Creators should have entitlement to the fruits of their creative labor.
What is a justification specific to trademarks?
Trademarks help protect consumers from being misled about the origin or quality of a product or service.
What is a classic criticism of IPRs?
They give too strong competitive advantages, leading to monopolistic behavior (e.g. high prices) and inefficient static competition with ensuing losses for consumers as well as for the society at large.
What is the counterargument to the criticism of IPRs?
The temporary loss of static competitive efficiency is outweighed by gains in dynamic efficiency in the form of an increased flow or supply of innovations to the benefit of consumers.
What is the TRIPS agreement and why is it important?
The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of IPRs (TRIPS) was a US-sponsored agreement in the mid-1990s that further spread, strengthened, and harmonized the IPR regimes around most of the world. The agreement contributed to vast increases in numbers of IPRs applied for and granted.
What are some modern criticisms of strengthened IPR systems?
- Counterproductive
- Inferior to alternatives
- Powerful companies and wealthier countries often have more influence over how intellectual property laws are made and enforced
What are examples of reform efforts in IPR systems?
FRAND commitments in the patent area, creative commons in the copyright area, and open design in the design area.
Many if not most of these remedies are essentially schemes for licensing IPR usage rights.
Why are trade and transfer of dispersed complementary intellectual resources needed?
Since contemporary innovation is increasingly cumulative, open, distributed, multi technological, systemic, and IPR intensive.
