Meeting the Paris Agreement target of maintaining global average temperature increases well below 2.0°C requires rapid innovation in climate-friendly, or green, technologies. A substantial literature has mapped the relationship between patent law and climate change, with the concern that...

This chapter considers the role of patent law in respect of geoengineering. Intellectual Ventures has developed a large portfolio of patents in this area. A number of other private and public entities have also filed patents in the field of geoengineering. In light of the recent precedents of...

We analyze the use of patent protection as a new policy to direct technical change to clean technology. Contrary to popular belief, it is dirty (and not clean) innovations that should be excluded from patent protection to reduce emissions. In the shortrun, removing patent protection on dirty...