Author(s): Suzanne Scotchmer Year: 2009 Abstract: We investigate rewards to R&D in a model where substitute ideas for innovation arrive to random recipients at random times. By foregoing investment in a current idea, society as a whole preserves an option to invest in a better idea for the same market niche, but with delay. Because […]
Scarcity of Ideas and R&D Options: Use it, Lose it or Bank it
Cultural Environmentalism and the Constructed Commons Law and Contemporary Problems
Author(s): Molly S. Van Houweling Year: 2007 Abstract: The public domain is to the world of innovation and creativity what the environment is to the physical world. Concern with the public’s ability to build upon a body of intellectual works that are freely available as raw material for new generations of creativity and innovation echoes […]
Pooh-Poohing Copyright Law’s ‘Inalienable’ Termination Rights
Author(s): Peter S. Menell Year: 2009 Abstract: From its earliest manifestations, copyright law has struggled to deal with the equitable and efficient division of value and control between creators and the enterprises that distribute their works. And for almost as long as copyright has existed, there has been concern about creators getting the short end […]
Matters of Public Concern and the Public University Professor
Author(s): Chris Jay Hoofnagle Year: 2004 Abstract: The matter of public concern test is the threshold inquiry courts use to determine whether a public employee’s expression falls within the bounds of constitutionally protected speech. This test has been extended into the realm of academia, and it is now used to determine the First Amendment value […]
Eldred and Lochner: Copyright Term Extension and Intellectual Property as Constitutional Property
Author(s): Paul M. Schwartz Year: 2004 Abstract: Since the ratification of the constitution, intellectual property law in the United States has always been, in part, constitutional law. Among the enumerated powers that Article I of the Constitution vests in Congress is the power to create certain intellectual property rights. To a remarkable extent, scholars who […]
Profit Neutrality in Licensing: The Boundary Between Antitrust Law and Patent Law
Author(s): Suzanne Scotchmer Year: 2008 Abstract: We address the patent/antitrust conflict in licensing and develop three guiding principles for deciding acceptable terms of license. Profit neutrality holds that patent rewards should not depend on the rightholder’s ability to work the patent himself. Derived reward holds that the patentholder’s profits should be earned, if at all, […]
Procuring Knowledge
Author(s): Suzanne Scotchmer Year: 2003 Abstract: There is growing public interest in alternatives to intellectual property including, but not limited to, prizes and government grants. We argue that there is no single best mechanism for supporting research. Rather, mechanisms can only be compared within specific creative environments. We collect various historical and contemporary examples of […]
The Core and Hedonic Core: Reply to Wooders (2001), with Counterexamples
Author(s): Suzanne Scotchmer Year: 2003 Abstract: In response to Wooders (2001), I review the contributions of Engl and Scotchmer (1996) regarding monotonicity and the hedonic core, show how our contributions diverge from those previously in the literature, and highlight the importance of our assumptions by giving counterexamples, particularly to related results of Wooders. Keywords: Hedonic […]
Damages and Injunctions in the Protection of Proprietary Research Tools
Author(s): Suzanne Scotchmer Year: 2000 Abstract: We investigate how liability rules and property rules protect intellectual property. Infringement might not be deterred under any of the enforcement regimes available. However, counterintuitively, a credible threat of infringement can actually benefit the patentholder. We compare the two doctrines of damages, lost profit (lost royalty) and unjust enrichment, […]
Open Source Software: The New Intellectual Property Paradigm
Author(s): Suzanne Scotchmer Year: 2006 Abstract: Open source methods for creating software rely on developers who voluntarily reveal code in the expectation that other developers will reciprocate. Open source incentives are distinct from earlier uses of intellectual property, leading to different types of inefficiencies and different biases in R&D investment. Open source style of software […]