Free Trade: Fact or Fiction?: Part 6 – Windows 98 in 1997
·1441 words·7 mins
This post examines the history and current architecture of the international intellectual property rights system, tracing its evolution from the first patent law in 15th-century Venice through the 1994 TRIPS agreement. It asks whether the current system reflects a principle of rewarding innovation or a mechanism for managing competition between nations at different stages of technological development.