Pistorius, Tana --- "Introduction" [2018] ELECD 1139; in Pistorius, Tana (ed), "Intellectual Property Perspectives on the Regulation of New Technologies" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 1

Book Title: Intellectual Property Perspectives on the Regulation of New Technologies

Editor(s): Pistorius, Tana

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781786436375

Section Title: Introduction

Author(s): Pistorius, Tana

Number of pages: 6

Extract:

Introduction Tana Pistorius In this volume, we explore the challenges that emerging technologies and new technology-driven practices pose for traditional notions of intellectual property law and policy. There is an intimate relationship between intellectual property law and new technologies as intellectual property law has always evolved in response to technological change. In the fifteenth century, the invention of the printing press was a catalyst for the granting of printing privileges. A more recent example is the development of anti-cybersquatting regulations once the internet became a commercial reality. One may argue that almost all substantial revisions of intellectual property law have been impelled by technological innovation. Due to the nature of regulation, intellectual property law is always a step or two behind technological development. Moreover, law evolves in a reactionary manner. Often law reform focuses on harnessing the potential benefits of a new technology or preventing an erosion of rights posed by a specific technological development. This has often led to technology-specific regulation and a distortion of the balance between private and public rights. Intellectual property law has neither subscribed to the notion that analogue and digital regulation should be functionally equivalent nor that media neutrality should be maintained. In this volume, we discuss the disparate manner in which intellectual property law has responded to the challenges posed by innovation and technology-driven practices. We offer perspectives across the intellectual property law spectrum, including some that are long-standing (e.g. patenting in the life sciences and regulation ...