This post is the second of a series of three posts written by Julien Jacqmin. Julien Jacqmin is a PhD student in Economics from the Economics School of Louvain, and is affiliated with the CEREC/Université Saint-Louis – Brussels. Julien’s dissertation is on the economics of education/science and on higher education policy. As an expert on these questions, he is well […]
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A typology of IP intermediaries
By Paul Belleflamme 26 March 2013 26
(Updated in November 2014) As we have already argued a couple of times on this blog (see here and here), markets for patents are typically difficult to organize. There are three main reasons as to why markets for patents work badly: Many uncertainties surround the value of patents. This is mainly because patents are idiosyncratic (and […]
When plain packaging becomes a matter for the judges
By Alain Strowel 22 November 2012 37
Plain packaging laws impose trademark restrictions and other plain packaging requirements on tobacco products and packaging, as illustrated by the attached photograph of a cigarette packaging where the brand only appears in plain and small font below a rather unappealing photo. Plain packaging is not a new issue of public interest in the field of intellectual property, […]
Megaupload, WikiLeaks: when online payment intermediaries seem to apply different standards
By Alain Strowel 3 February 2012 1
As everyone knows, communicating on the Internet has nothing to do with a direct, face-to-face conversation. (The Internet, however, wrongly gives the impression that those who write and speak to one another are not relying on intermediaries). There are many layers of technical infrastructure that permit the link between two Internet users. The regulation of […]
What is IPdigIT?
IPdigIT is a blog about Intellectual Property (IP), the digital economy (DIGIT) and Information Technology (IT). It aims at discussing the law and economics of innovation (‘Dig it!’). It is fed by a team of academics and practitioners, and serves to share our reflections and to interact with students. The site is bilingual: contributions are […]