Patent thickets may inefficient retard cumulative innovation. This paper explores two alternative mechanisms that may … be used to weed out patent thickets. Both mechanisms are intended to reduce the number of patents in our society. The … more innovative mechanism is quantity based regulation through the establishment of a system of Tradable Patent Rights. The …

Scholars who point to political influences and the regulatory function of patent courts in the U.S. have long … patent and which attracted criticism for a wealth of different reasons, are fine case studies of the current debate over the …

national incentives for patent protection? What is the rationale for international coordination over patent policies? Given … support the major arguments for and against the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS …)? Finally, can the structure of TRIPS—both in terms of the core obligations it imposes on the WTO members and the flexibilities …

We study the incentives that governments have to protect intellectual property in a trading world economy. We consider … a world economy with ongoing innovation in two countries that differ in market size and in their capacities for … treatment. After describing the determination of national policies in a non-cooperative regime of patent protection, we ask, Why …