The patent system has gained political attention in both Europe and the US as the core regulatory regime of an increasingly knowledge-based economy. Europe and the US alike have recently engaged in a series of reform efforts of their patent systems. These efforts reflect a shift from a legal and...

Patents are territorial instruments of exclusion structurally analogous to a protectionist trade barrier -- not affirmative rights or knowledge that can be treated as simple economic inputs. Digital technology has posed problems because of the vast number of patents, their presence in global...