"The regulation of innovation and the optimal design of legal institutions in an environment of uncertainty are two of the most important policy challenges of the twenty-first century. Innovation is critical to economic growth. Regulatory design decisions, and, in particular, competition policy...

Analytical economic evidence shows that a strong patent system provides incentives for investing in technology and encourages competition that tends to promote progress in the long run.Critics of patents look to short run exclusive rights that suggest an “anticommons” that blocks...

Concerns have been raised that the upsurge of 3D printing technology would disrupt the patent system. The central question the present paper aims to address is whether and to what extent the emergence of 3D printing technology indeed urges us to rethink patent law. The paper splits up this...