Licensing Intellectual Property and the Dissemination of Technology

Abstract

While the exclusive rights provided by intellectual property law are touted as promoting the creation and spread of new technologies, equally important is the role of contract law in supporting the dissemination of technology. Contract and intellectual property laws intersect in the practice of licensing. This presentation will demonstrate how licensing supports technology diffusion through illustrations of the overlap between contract and IPR's. The focus will be on contracts involving inventions not covered by IPR's, exhaustion of IPR's, and competition law. The general point is that contract law also provides incentives for inventors and creators that complement IPR's and in many cases make the exclusivity of intellectual property protection more finely attuned with the openness of market competition.