Description: This handbook challenges the conventional wisdom that intellectual property is the law of creativity. Traditionally, IP has been instrumental for protecting creations of the mind, with only inventors of original works enjoying exclusive rights. Related, sui generis, and quasi-IP rights, which protect monetary investments and efforts rather than originality and inventiveness, were considered exceptions to the general principles of IP. But increasingly, IP rights are being granted to safeguard corporate investments. This handbook brings together an international roster of contributors to explore this emerging trend. Why are investments the primary driver of legal protection, and often the main requirement to obtain it? Who benefits from such new forms of protection? What should the scope of these new rights be? And are they desirable in the first place? In doing so, the volume is the first to highlight and systematically critique the move from 'intellectual' to 'investment' property.
Brief description: Enrico Bonadio is a Reader in Law at City, University of London. He researches, teaches and advises in the area of intellectual property.
Review Quotes: 'This is a stimulating collection of essays that explores the investment-driven nature of much of IP law. A diverse array of experts examine IP, quasi-IP, related and sui generis rights, ranging from software protection, test data exclusivity, and database rights to sound recordings, the press publishers' right and designs protection, and to well-known trade marks, ambush marketing, and GIs. In so doing, the book sheds light on the shaky foundations of the investment justification for IP protection.' Tanya Aplin, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, King's College London, and co-author of Global Mandatory Fair Use: The Nature and Scope of the Right to Quote Copyright Works