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 Academics
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TAP Blog
In “A Toolkit of Policies to Promote Innovation,” Professors Nicholas Bloom, John Van Reenen, and Heidi Williams present a number of the main innovation policy levers to energize technological innovation.
September 29, 2019
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Upcoming Events
World Intellectual Property Day
April 26, 2020, Everywhere
[Cancelled] 4th Doctoral Workshop on The Economics of Digitization
May 19, 2020, Toulouse, France
Thirteenth Annual Conference on Innovation Economics
June 11, 2020, Chicago, IL
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Fact Sheets
A patent is an exclusive legal right to own and market an invention or improvement for a limited period of time, in exchange for public disclosure of the invention.
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Quote
"It’s overreaching in terms of copyright law. The law grants certain rights, but it withholds certain others." — Jeanne Fromer, Professor of Law, New York University
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Featured Article
Standard-essential patents (SEPs) cover technologies needed to make complex products like wi-fi. Patent trolls that assert SEPs in court win few cases, often because the patent was not actually infringed.
March 4, 2018
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