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Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) rights help creators limit who uses their work without giving value in return. This protection encourages innovation in thought and expression. Academics featured on this site research topics such as open source licensing, digital rights management, patent reform, IP and technical standards, trademarks, and trade secrets.

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TAP Blog

The Importance of Markets for Technology for Innovation – New Study by Daniel Spulber and Pere Arque'-Castells

In a recent paper, Professors Daniel Spulber, Northwestern University, and Pere Arque´-Castells, University of Groningen, show that some of the external benefits of R&D are transmitted through markets for technology.

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Fact Sheets

Software Patents

A patent provides an exclusive legal right to an invention for a limited period of time, in exchange for public disclosure of that innovation. As with other property rights, patents may be sold, transferred, or licensed for a third party’s use.

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Quote

Lofi Girl Disappeared from YouTube and Reignited Debate Over Bogus Copyright Claims

“We ended up with this system because in the 1990s, when the contours of the internet and copyright are still coming into view, this is the compromise that representatives of the copyright industries and the internet industries worked out.” — James Grimmelmann, Professor of Law, Cornell University

James Grimmelmann
NPR
July 16, 2022

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Featured Article

Reconceptualizing Copyright's Merger Doctrine

The “Merger Doctrine” is a defense to a charge of copyright infringement. Some ideas can only be expressed a certain way; courts say that the idea merges with the author’s choice of expression. Merger is important in many cases, including those involving software and depictions of nature.

By: Pamela Samuelson

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