This article is the third part of a three-piece series that discusses the incentives and the challenges for firms to engage in open IP practices. Standards are an invisible yet inherent part of our day-to-day life. You might not be aware of it but in this exact moment, as you are about to read this […]
Archive | IP
Do standard setting organizations’ rules stand in the way of innovation?
By Sophie Poukens 17 July 2015 0
Opening up knowledge management
By Sophie Poukens 10 June 2015 0
A few decades ago, traditional IP protection has started to coexist with a more cooperative line towards knowledge management. And while intellectual property rights are still mainly seen as defensive shields preventing others from using creations of the mind, more and more people embrace an open approach to IP . Examples of openness in knowledge management can […]
The scope of “copyleft“ effect: What’s right and what’s “left“? (part I – Introduction)
By Matej Gera 5 May 2015 0
March 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of one of the first and most prominent documents presenting “copyleft” idea. Richard Stallman’s publication of the “GNU Manifesto” (available here) – announcing the development of a software system which would be freely distributable and modifiable – occurred on March 1985. It has since spawned a […]
What can we expect from 2015 in the field of IP and ICT?
By Anna Trzop 18 February 2015 0
Starting from this post I will try to regularly update you, IPdigIT readers, on the latest legislative developments taking place at the EU level in the field of Intellectual Property and ICT. This article should be considered an introduction and an incentive to further follow the blog. Each of the issues briefly described below, deserves […]
MEP Julia Reda proposes major overhaul of EU copyright
By Eleonora Rosati 26 January 2015 0
There are clearly some pressure on the European legislator to modernize the copyright framework. I have posted here a letter signed by several academics who are members of the European Copyright Society. One of the regular contributors to The IPKat, Eleonora Rosati, has prepared an analysis of a recent draft report proposed by the new […]
Best wishes for 2015: a year for starting a forward looking reform of copyright in Europe?
By Alain Strowel 5 January 2015 0
The beginning of the year is always a good time for the best resolutions. 2015 should not be an exception. Let’s fire some good resolutions in the new sky! The European Copyright Society has a wish too: that the European Commission, in particular Mr. Günther Oettinger, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, initiates a […]
Business models for digital goods in the face of the ‘culture of free’?
By Paul Belleflamme 10 December 2014 7
Piracy of digital goods is an issue that we have already addressed many times on this blog. Here is an additional post on the topic, which does not contain new material or analysis but which simply points you to two instructive resources that were recently published. First, there is this excellent video, produced by RetroReport.org, […]
Do patent rights facilitate or impede cumulative innovation?
By Paul Belleflamme 20 November 2014 24
Most innovations are the result of a cumulative R&D process, i.e., their production requires the combination of knowledge contained in previous innovations (for a general presentation, see my previous ‘Dig It!’ post). Cumulative innovations raise specific problems that put the patent system under stress. We already explained on this blog that holdup strategies or licensing […]
Patent races: pros and cons
By Paul Belleflamme 5 November 2014 25
We have already developed on this blog the relationship between competition and innovation (see here and here). This relationship goes both ways. On the one hand, competition affects innovation insofar as the firms’ incentives to innovate depend (in a complex way) on the market structure (i.e., the number of firms on the market, the way they compete, the type […]
To induce innovation, should we praise the prizes?
By Paul Belleflamme 3 November 2014 40
Innovation is a tricky economic activity: its input (R&D) is very costly, its production process is highly uncertain and its output (the resulting knowledge) has the features of a public good. Absent proper institutions and policies, private incentives for research and innovation may thus be insufficient with respect to what our societies need to sustain […]