Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property Law Meets Public Interest Law

There are many ways that intellectual property law intersects with the public interest. Learn about a few here today.

By  
on

From time to time, a law professor will send along a student interested in seeking a career in intellectual property law. While many law students are interested in the Biglaw firms (to which I can offer absolutely no advice), some are open to opportunities that serve the public interest — where I’ve spent my entire career.

When I went to law school, I had no dreams of working at a law firm. While I wasn’t sure what area of law I wanted to focus on, I did think broadly in terms of human rights and civil rights. Basically, I wanted a public interest job, student loans be damned. Many people who knew about my commitment to human rights and public interest are surprised when they ask what kind of law I practice and I respond, “intellectual property.” Saying the words “copyrights” or “patents” usually brings up associations with large companies, represented by large law firms. Certainly, this is the more traditional path to intellectual property law, but by no means the only one and — as I’ve noted before –- if you don’t have a technical background, a little creativity and flexibility in an intellectual property law job search is very beneficial.

For me, a public interest, intellectual property job is perfect, blending a passion for copyright law and patent law with a deep desire to serve the public. While I had a number of reasons for my commitment to public service, after nearly a decade working for non-profit organizations, the best advertisement I can give for public interest work is this: I go to work every day knowing that I firmly believe in the mission and values of my organization. I have always had the great satisfaction that the goals I’m fighting for are aligned with my own beliefs. In zealous advocacy for my clients, I have always agreed with their positions. While I don’t doubt that a career in the private sector or the government can be very rewarding, working for non-profit organizations offer this unique benefit.

So where, exactly, does intellectual property law intersect with the public interest? Basically any time intellectual property and consumers overlap. Because patents and copyrights provide exclusive rights to the right holder, ultimately, consumers can be harmed either because they may be excluded from access or forced to pay exorbitant prices. Expansion of patent and copyright law for rightholders can result in delayed generic competition, stifling of the public domain and reduced innovation. Public interest intellectual property jobs usually focus on promoting the rights of consumers and curtailing abuses of intellectual property rights. For example:

  • Ensuring access to affordable medicines. Challenging bad patents — patents that never should have been granted — is one way to protect consumers and reduce the high costs of pharmaceutical drugs. Fighting against sham transfers that try to exploit sovereign immunity is another. Negotiating licenses for lower prices in developing countries, such as with the Medicines Patent Pool.
  • Fighting patent trolls. A number of organizations work to support better innovation and protect consumers by fighting against patent trolls, individuals or organizations that purchase inexpensive patents for the purposes of litigation, often where the patent should not have been granted or to initiate sham lawsuits to extract a settlement from the alleged infringer.
  • Ensuring adequate copyright limitations and exceptions for those who are visually impaired or hearing impaired. Without limitations and exceptions, it would not be permissible for an entity to create an accessible format of a work, such as Braille or audio copy of a book for a person who is blind or a captioned movie for someone who is deaf. A number of groups successfully lobbied for and secured an international treaty to facilitate the creation and cross-border exchange of accessible works for those who are visually impaired.
  • Advocating for the right to repair. One of the crazy issues I’ve discussed on this blog before is that, due to technological protection measures (basically “digital locks”) and the fact that software is embedded on so many products today, you may not be able to (legally) repair that car, toaster, or coffee maker that you purchased. Some organizations work to ask the Copyright Office for an exemption to the anti-circumvention rules that would prevent repair.
  • Promoting a robust public domain. One of my favorite blog posts each year is the Center for the Study of the Public Domain’s round-up of all the awesome books, music, and movies that would have entered the public domain on January 1 of that particular year but didn’t due to copyright term extension. In fact, in the United States, we haven’t seen works have their copyright expire and enter the public domain for nearly 20 years because of the term extension passed in 1998. Think about that: the public domain has been stalled, starved, for almost 20 years and that storehouse of knowledge remains locked away.
  • Fighting for alternatives within the existing system. Because intellectual property can effectively prevent someone from accessing protected works, what does a person who wants to share his work with the world do? Some advocates fight for alternatives that work within the existing system, such as promoting better open access policies or making it easier to openly license copyrighted works, including dedicating them to the public domain.
  • Supporting new innovation. The stated purpose of the intellectual property system in the United States is “to promote the progress of science and the useful arts.” While the reward of an exclusive monopoly in the form of a patent or copyright is often cited as the reason that new innovations are created, many innovations actually depend on limitations and exceptions. A number of consumer-oriented groups that focus on intellectual property advocate for laws that achieve better balance to support innovative growth.

These are just a few ways that intellectual property law intersects with the public interest. So many of these issues are foundational to human rights, such as health or education, and good attorneys are always needed to support these important fights.

Sponsored

Krista L. Cox is a policy attorney who has spent her career working for non-profit organizations and associations. She has expertise in copyright, patent, and intellectual property enforcement law, as well as international trade. She currently works for a non-profit member association advocating for balanced copyright. You can reach her at kristay@gmail.com.

Sponsored

Topics

, ,