Intro to IPR

In part one, we explored the core philosophy behind IPR and its economic justifications. In this second part, we will explore the metaphysics of IP, what it means to ‘protect’ it, and how neg teams can craft a stronger topicality limit than the mainstream topic literature might allow.

There are two mainstream ways of thinking about intellectual property rights (IPR). Legal scholars tend to approach the area by splitting it into its component parts, distinguishing sharply between patent, copyright, trademark, trade secrets...