George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

The “Common Law Property” Myth in the Libertarian Critique of IP Rights (Part 2)

[Cross Posted to Truth on the Market on December 12, 2012]

In Part One, I addressed the argument by some libertarians that so-called “traditional property rights in land” are based in inductive, ground-up “common law court decisions,” but that intellectual property (IP) rights are top-down, artificial statutory entitlements.  Read more

The “Common Law Property” Myth in the Libertarian Critique of IP Rights (Part 1)

[Cross Posted to Truth on the Market on December 7, 2012]

In libertarian critiques of intellectual property (IP) rights, such as copyrights and patents, it’s common to the hear the claim that “traditional property rights in land” is based in inductive, ground-up “common law court decisions,” but that IP rights are top-down, artificial statutory entitlements.  Read more

Some Historical Perspective on Today's High-Tech Patent Wars

[Cross Posted at Truth on the Market on October 9, 2012]

The New York Times set hearts aflutter in the IP world yesterday with its hit piece on patents in the high-tech industry– I’m shocked, shocked to find the New York Times publishing biased articles on hot topics in politics and law — but Bloomberg also published an important article yesterday on the smart phone war, software patents and other topics raised by today’s so-called patent litigation crisis: Apple Phone Patent War Like Sewing Machine Minus Violence. Read more

Policy Debates On Patents Should Focus On Facts, Not Rhetoric (Forbes.com Op-Ed)

[Cross-posted at Truth on the Market on December 18, 2012]

A heavily revised and expanded verison of one of my earlier blog postings was just posted as an op-ed on Forbes.com.  This op-ed addresses how the FTC and DOJ have let themselves become swept up in anti-patent rhetoric, as evidenced by the FTC-DOJ workshop on December 10 that I participated in. Read more