Intellectual Property, Sociology Of

Jay P. Kesan

Three major revolutions since World War II bring new meaning and shape to our daily lives. The information technology and communications revolution has transformed the manner in which we receive and share information. The biotechnology revolution has changed the food we eat, the medicine we take, and the way we understand the very meaning of life. The globalization revolution has fundamentally altered the manner and extent to which we can do business throughout the world. At the intersection of these three revolutions lies intellectual property (IP) law, designed by the U.S. founding fathers in the Constitution to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” (art. I, § 8, cl. 8). This constitutionally mandated set of exclusive rights extends protection to those revolutionary ideas and inventions that allow us to live longer, ...

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