Economic growth begins with ideas, innovation and creativity. Since the signing of the Constitution, the U.S. has protected the fruits of creativity and innovation through intellectual property protection, primarily expressed as patents, trademarks, copyright and trade secrets.
As our economy has become even more dependent on innovation, intellectual property issues have been pushed to the forefront. The clashes have led some to question the value and even the legitimacy of IP protection. While some of these attacks come from the libertarian perspective, most originate from the same naïve socialist impulses that so demonstrably failed in the realm of real property—but somehow are seen as thoughtful with respect to IP.
IPI believes that creators have the right to own and control the fruits of their creativity, and that the IP system has done an admirable job of not only incentivizing innovation, but also making creative products and services available to the public and transferring technology to the developing world.
The Seeds of IP Policy: A Growing Agricultural Success Story
A gene trait in the first of the biotech seeds, Roundup Ready, goes off patent in 2014, and many more will soon follow. The industry has been developing a private sector process to govern the transition from patented to generic traits that relies on negotiations and contracts. Such a process would avoid the costly, litigious and adversarial approach Congress imposed on the pharmaceutical industry.
Breaking Down the Internet Censorship Debate
Citing IPI's 2007 copyright piracy study, reporter Nathan Taft of NextGen Journal evaluates recent policy approaches to help fight online piracy. The methods by which piracy should be regulated is a clear point of contention, he writes.
Acting Out on ACTA
ACTA should be judged on its merits, not on some false illegitimate-process charge created by opposition activists. And its merits are many.
Music Piracy Is a Real Crime
Many people consider music piracy to be nothing but downloading music "for free." What they may not full understand that is that downloading a song or album off the Web without paying for it is a crime, reports the Detroit Free Press.
Suspect Set to Plead Guilty in Fort Worth Counterfeit Movie and Music Case
The Ft. Worth Star Telegram's Dianna Hunt cites IPI's study regarding the economic impact of counterfeit goods on the local economy.
Throwing out the Baby with the SOPA Bathwater
Stakeholders of goodwill should go back to the drawing board and come up with an acceptable solution to the problem of offshore websites profiting from piracy and counterfeiting.
Protecting Property Rights on the Web: Thoughts on the Protect IP Act
Because intellectual property protection is critical to the U.S. economy and serves the interests of a secure and content rich Internet ecosystem, it is reasonable and within the realm of sound policy to discretely target rogue websites through a Protect IP Act that preserves due process and other legal protections while not creating undue compliance burdens and legal liability for third parties.
Commercialization and Benefit Sharing from Traditional Knowledge
The purpose of this research project was to uncover and examine case studies of the commercialization of traditional knowledge derived from the United States, and to observe how the existing IP structures in the U.S. facilitated the commercialization of traditional knowledge, and to what degree the existing IP structures aided or hindered both commercialization and the sharing of access and benefits.
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