WIPO Commissioned Study On Intellectual Property Acting As A Barrier To Entry

from the nice-to-see dept

Eric Goldman points us to an interesting new study, put together by the Center on Law and Information Policy at Fordham Law School, done at the request of WIPO to look through all of the research on how intellectual property acts as a "barrier to entry," (pdf) within specific markets. The report itself isn't earth-shattering -- and, in fact, mostly just lists out all of the different studies it looked at. However, it is a source of nearly 500 research efforts on the question. Most of the research covers patents, but there was some in other areas as well. But the key point is the fact that these questions about how IP can hinder market entry are even being asked at all -- especially by a group like WIPO, who has a history of being somewhat maximalist on the topic, but has shown some signs of softening in the past few years. It's nice to see a group like WIPO even admitting that IP can be a barrier to entry, let alone commissioning a group to compile evidence on the topic.

Filed Under: barriers to entry, intellectual property, wipo