As technology continues to innovate at lightning speeds and technology becomes more central to everyday life, personal data must be protected. In 2017, the passage of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union set an important precedent in the world of data protection...

We survey the economics literature on optimal patent design. We first outline the patent right and the basic economic effects of the patent on innovation. Models that use frictions instead of patents to generate rewards to innovation and models of trade secrecy are considered briefly. The patent...