Category Archives: Law and Economics
Daniel Hemel, ‘Patent as Promise’
ABSTRACT For patent law to serve its purpose of encouraging innovation, would-be inventors must believe that the government will honor its promise to protect their right to exclude others from selling or using their novel, nonobvious, and useful inventions. But what makes the government’s commitment to patent protection credible? Put another way, why is the […]
Christophe Gösken, ‘Intellectual Property and the Diffusion of Culture: Evidence from the Luxury Watch Industry’
ABSTRACT In 1996, Patek Philippe launched its now-iconic campaign declaring that ‘You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation’. Positioned against imagery of intergenerational transmission and the word ‘GENEVA’, the campaign framed the watch not merely as a luxury object, but as a vessel of tradition, quality, […]
Cato and Yahagi, ‘Discounting Offenders’ Private Benefits’
ABSTRACT There is an ongoing debate on whether offenders’ private benefits must be counted as part of social welfare. It has been argued on utilitarian grounds that their utility must be included, but it has also been argued on explicit or implicit deontological grounds that their utility should not be counted at all. In this […]
Jankowska and Pawełczyk, ‘Intellectual Property Philosophies and Brand Strategies: Converging Theories and Integrative Approaches’
ABSTRACT This research extends the examination of intellectual property (IP) law by delving into its intricate relationship with branding in the contemporary marketplace. Building on foundational philosophical theories such as John Locke’s Labour Theory, Hegelian Personality Theory, and utilitarianism, the study explores how these theories influence both the legal frameworks and strategic dimensions of branding. […]
Domenico Di Micco, ‘The Protection of Geographical Indications under Comparative Lens: whether Law artificially creates Scarcity of Goods’
ABSTRACT The economic principles of supply and demand dictate that market prices are contingent on the conditions under which supply and demand converge. Within this theoretical framework, the concepts of scarcity and abundance assume paramount significance. When goods are scarce, prices tend to escalate, while in cases of abundant supply, prices tend to decline. But […]
Constantine Yannelis, ‘Adam Smith, Human Capital and the Wealth of Nations’
ABSTRACT This essay examines Smith’s insights into human capital as a primary driver of the wealth of nations. Adam Smith is celebrated as the founder of classical economics, yet his foundational role in articulating the principles of human capital is frequently overlooked. Writing in 1776, Smith predated the formal coining of ‘human capital’ by centuries, […]
Lai, Yu and Lam, ‘Michael Heller’s theory of the “tragedy of the anti-commons”: A Coasian property rights interpretation and some applications to planning policies’
ABSTRACT This short analytical paper discusses Heller’s (2013) concept of the ‘tragedy of the anti-commons’ (TOAC) and his car-parking fable; and translates his analysis, in its best possible light, into a Coasian property rights-access framework. Within this framework, the paper proceeds to denominate TOAC as a special case of the ‘tragedy of the commons’ (TOC) […]
Haris Durrani, ‘Before Invention’
ABSTRACT This Article is the first comprehensive historical account of a foundational doctrine of US patent law: conception. Conception supplies the meaning of invention at the root of the patent system. It is a mental act, the formation of the idea of an invention before it is made. Considered ‘the touchstone of inventorship’, conception can […]
Baffi and Parisi, ‘The Double Edge of Freedom of Contract’
ABSTRACT Standard economic reasoning suggests that expanding an individual’s choice set cannot reduce welfare because additional options may always be ignored. This intuition underlies the traditional economic justification for freedom of contract. This paper shows that the monotonic relationship between choice and welfare may break down in bargaining environments characterized by asymmetric bilateral monopoly and […]
Bereskin, Hsu and Wang, ‘Growth of Firms under Injunction Risk’
ABSTRACT Although injunctions serve as a crucial remedy for intellectual property protection, their excessive use has the potential to limit economic growth. We use the 2006 Supreme Court ruling in eBay v MercExchange, which reduced injunction likelihood for defendants in cases related to information and communications technology patents, as a shock to injunction risk. These […]