Patent law is built upon a fundamental premise: only significant inventions receive patent protection while minor improvements remain in the public domain. This premise is indispensable for maintaining an optimal balance between incentivizing new innovation and providing public access to...

The study of policy discourse comprises actor-centered and content-oriented approaches. We attempt to close the gap between the two kinds of approaches by introducing a new methodology for the analysis of political discourse called Discourse Network Analysis. It is based on social network...

Software patents have been making the headlines recently. In the EU, after the European Parliament has rejected a controversial proposed 'Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions' in July 2005, the debate is far from over: The Commission continues to pursue policies...