There is a growing need to understand the role of the regulation of intellectual property rights (IPRs), in order not only to achieve economic performance, growth and sustainable development at corporate, sectoral and global levels, but also to provide a higher quality of life for communities worldwide.Intellectual Property Rights is cutting edge in addressing current debates affecting businesses, industry sectors and society today, and in focusing not only on the enabling welfare effects of IPR systems, but also on some of the possible adverse effects of IPR systems. The main areas covered in the book are:






the global commons in an era of corporate dominance and privatisation of the public domain, including science, culture, and healthcare under TRIPS


the rationales for IPRs, and the importance of an appropriate design of an IPR regime in achieving its objectives


opening the black box of IPR offices and critically reviewing how they affect economic performance in both theory and practice


coordinating the institutions (state versus sector institutions, knowledge networks, innovation systems) creating and extracting financial and non-financial value from patents and copyrights.


This book challenges the existing mainstream thinking and analytical frameworks dominating the theoretical literature on IPRs within economics, management, politics, law and regulation theory. It is relevant for policymakers, business analysts, industrial and business economists, researchers and students.