Short description:

This book introduces a general theory of intellectual property (IP) law, highlighting its importance and relevance in addressing complex IP issues in the digital economy, which often intersect with competition law.

Long description:

This book introduces a general theory of intellectual property (IP) law, highlighting its importance and relevance in addressing complex IP issues in the digital economy, which often intersect with competition law.

The book argues for the need for a unified theory of IP to elevate it as a discipline in its own right, while recognizing the diversity and nuance of IP laws. It explores how such a theory can address the challenges posed by the knowledge economy, the platform economy, the data-driven economy, and generative AI. The book views IP as a market regulatory mechanism designed to remedy market failures in public goods by providing sufficient protection to incentivize human creation and its operation and sharing across societies. It also emphasizes the need for competition law when IP oversteps its legitimate boundaries and becomes the source of other market failures. The study critically examines the TRIPS Agreement and many established stereotypes of IP theories and regimes. It offers a global perspective with a special focus on Asian considerations.

The title will be essential reading for scholars, students, practitioners, and policymakers interested in regulatory reform and the evolving landscape of intellectual property law and its interaction with competition law in the digital age.

Table of Contents:

Part I A General Theory of IP, IP Code, Market Competition, and Competition Law  1. The Prelude  2. IP as Market Regulation to Enrich the Public Domain 3. Market Competition and Competition Law  4. An IP Code, its Principles, and a More Balanced International IP Regime  Part II Compulsory Licensing of IPRs to Further Competition  5. International IP Treaties and National IP Regimes on Compulsory Licensing  6. Competition-Oriented Compulsory Licensing of IPRs?Except Trademarks and GIs  Part III Aggregating IP  7. Patent Pools  8. Work Pools and Well-Known Trademarks Database  Part IV FRANDly Licensing of SEPs  9. SSOs, SEPs, and FRAND Licensing of SEPs  10. To Facilitate FRANDly Licensing of SEPs on a Global Scale  Part V The Exercise of Trademark Rights  11. Balancing Secondhand Branded Goods Markets with Brand Owners via Corporate Social Responsibility  Part VI Data, Algorithms, IP, and Competition  12. Data and Algorithms for the Data-Driven Economy