Intellectual Property Excesses: Exploring the Boundaries of IP Protection - Hardcover

Enrico Bonadio; Aislinn O’Connell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1509944885 ISBN 13: 9781509944880

Publisher: Hart Publishing, 2022

Synopsis

This collection of essays highlights the sometimes absurd outcomes which an unjustified overprotection of intellectual property (IP) may lead to. It collects and comments on a series of IP disputes which have taken the notion of IP protection to extremes. From individuals being sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars for sharing a playlist, to sports spectators being arrested for wearing the ‘wrong’ dresses, passing through granting patents for inventions obtained by misappropriating traditional knowledge, and trademark protection of merely descriptive signs, this book brings together a broad range of examples from across the IP spectrum where protection and enforcement have been used or threatened on unreasonable and/or untenable grounds.

The aim of the book is to criticise these excesses precisely because they harm IP; and because they contribute to creating an environment where more and more people are led to ‘hate’ IP, and view it as a protectionist regime which discourages creativity in innovation and ends up safeguarding the owners of monopolistic rights which restrict trade, competition and people’s freedom.

This is not, therefore, a book against IP, it is instead a call for change and an attempt to ‘save’ IP through critiquing its excesses and preventing such a fascinating area of law from continuing to be an easy target for criticism.

The book includes a foreword by Jason Mazzone, Albert E Jenner Jr Professor of Law at the University of Illinois, USA.

About this title

About the Authors

Enrico Bonadio is Professor of Law at City St George's University of London. UK.

Aislinn O’Connell is Lecturer in Law at Royal Holloway University of London, UK.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1509944885
• ISBN 13: 9781509944880
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448
• Editor: Enrico Bonadio, Aislinn O’Connell