‘Intellectual property policy has been framed too commonly in terms of refining and strengthening legal rights. As intellectual property grows in scope and importance, the limitations of this narrow approach have become all too apparent. This important collection puts the policy problems in proper perspective by assembling the work of leading scholars and researchers who examine intellectual property rights in terms of how they actually work in legal, economic, and institutional contexts.’ – Brian Kahin, University of Michigan and formerly White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, US

‘For a long time we have thought about IPRs as a policy instrument to avoid a "tragedy of commons". The essays collected by Birgitte Andersen show that in the XXI century economy there is another, and so far underestimated, danger: a sort of "tragedy of markets" where every knowledge or cultural expression becomes privatised. This will generate a greater knowledge and culture divide, with an increased corporate dominance. Those who are afraid of the dangers of exclusion and that believe that open access to science, technology and culture will lead us in a more intriguing world will find convincing arguments and explanations in this volume.’ – Daniele Archibugi, Italian National Research Council, Italy

There is a growing need to understand the role of the regulation of intellectual property rights (IPRs), in order not only to achieve economic performance, growth and sustainable development at corporate, sectoral and global levels, but also to provide a higher quality of life for communities worldwide.

Intellectual Property Rights is cutting edge in addressing current debates affecting businesses, industry sectors and society today, and in focusing not only on the enabling welfare effects of IPR systems, but also on some of the possible adverse effects of IPR systems. The main areas covered in the book are:

• the global commons in an era of corporate dominance and privatisation of the public domain, including science, culture, and healthcare under TRIPS • the rationales for IPRs, and the importance of an appropriate design of an IPR regime in achieving its objectives • opening the black box of IPR offices and critically reviewing how they affect economic performance in both theory and practice • coordinating the institutions (state versus sector institutions, knowledge networks, innovation systems) creating and extracting financial and non-financial value from patents and copyrights.

This book challenges the existing mainstream thinking and analytical frameworks dominating the theoretical literature on IPRs within law, economics, management, politics and regulation theory. It is relevant for policymakers, business analysts, industrial and business economists, researchers and students.