The INDICARE project – the Informed Dialogue about Consumer Acceptability of DRM Solutions in Europe – has been set up to raise awareness about consumer and user issues of Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions. One of the main goals of the INDICARE project is to contribute to the...

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, in their capacities for innovation and in their absolute and comparative advantage in...

Energy produced from renewable sources and its capacity to reduce GHG emissions and to enhance energy security is one of today’s most debated issues. The renewable energy sources form a small but fast growing part of the global energy portfolio. A crucial condition for green energy to win an...

A new survey shows scientists consider the proliferation of intellectual property protectionto have a strongly negative effect on research.

In corporate restructuring under Chapter 11, an asset valuation is a central task for both legal and financial reasons. In the area of intangible assets, however, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) do not reflect internally-generated assets such as brands, trademarks, and other...

This paper examines the consequences of the differences in the timing of information disclosure between the U.S. and Japanese patent systems. Under the Japanese system it is possible for a firm to apply for a patent knowing the exact specifications of a rival's patent application. In contrast,...

Die Beziehung zwischen dem Wettbewerbsrecht und dem Recht geistigen Eigentums gilt seit jeher als problematisch. Für viele ist sie inhärent konfliktär. Während das Wettbewerbsrecht darauf gerichtet sei, Marktmacht zu zerstören, bestehe der Zweck des Rechts geistigen Eigentums wie z. B. des...

This paper analyzes intellectual property regimes in the United States and Japan by means of patents granted from 1940 to 2005 and 1965 to 2005, respectively. Making use of the database released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), we search for presence of a one-time change...

This paper analyzes innovative activity in North America and European Union (EU) countries by means of the number of patents granted from 1965 to 2005. Making use of the database released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), we search for presence of a structural change patent...

This paper develops a methodology to compare the quality of examination services across patent offices. Quality is defined as the extent to which patent offices comply with their patentability conditions in a transparent way. The methodology consists of a two-layer analytical framework...