3 Questions For Co-Authors Of A Must-Own IP Book (Part II)

This week, we continue our written interview with Professors Op den Kamp and Hunter regarding their must-own book on IP, A History of Intellectual Property in 50 Objects. Please see below for their answers to my second and third questions about the book and its impact.

2. Another interesting feature of the book is the emphasis on the global nature of IP. How do you see current globalization trends impacting IP legal developments?

Globalization is a huge aspect of the history of IP. It’s obvious that IP isn’t just a Western or modern invention. There was IP-before-IP in places like Ancient Greece and Rome, in Korea, and, of course, in Venice. Our contributors tell a range of stories that show how the idea of IP was emerging across the globe in a range of periods before the Renaissance, and a range of places across the world. And for later chapters and objects, we wanted to make sure that we showed how these stories spanned the globe. Stories of Bell’s Telephone and Morse’s Telegraph make this real in very physical terms.

Of course, the objects in the latter part of the book are especially connected to globalization. One particular area of interest is in the post-war period of the second half of the 20th Century, because this is when IP really became IP as we understand it today. This was when everyone became connected to IP and its effects, and IP objects like Barbie and Lego show how the IP system was central to the globalization of ideas and images. The significance of trademarks to a globalized trade system really can’t be overstated. And then there was the digital explosion that put us all in direct contact with each other — chapters on the internet, WiFi, and Bitcoin show how IP made this possible.

In many ways, IP created globalization and the book really demonstrates this.

GK: Right off the bat, the book brings you into the world of trade in the Far East, with its opening chapter on Goryeo Celadon pottery. The theme of economies around the world being driven by innovation pervades the book, providing great historical context for what we are dealing with in today’s global IP environment. As a history major myself, I can appreciate the value of studying historical developments around IP for clues on how different cultures have traditionally interacted with innovation, even as today’s technology makes our own world feel and act much smaller and homogenized in important ways.

3. It is striking how you selected a balance of examples for different categories of IP — patent, copyright, etc. For example, design is something that continues to challenge IP regimes, particularly in the U.S. At the same time, one of the key features of the book is actually showing the products at issue for each article. How important is “seeing” IP, rather than simply discussing it in the abstract?

This was very deliberate. Getting a balance across a range of aspects was incredibly important to us. For example, we worked really hard to have a diversity of genders and career stages represented in the authors we chose. But we also looked to have diversity of regimes and periods in the objects discussed, to show how different IP regimes affected different ages and different industries.

If patent was vital in the Industrial Age, then copyright was important in the pre-industrial era and then much later, in the Media Age that we now live. A number of the objects in the book trace copyright’s venerable lineage — and its ongoing importance — beginning with Tempesta’s Map of Rome, through the Piano Player Roll, the Audiotape Cassette, the 3D Printer, the CD, the Betamax, the Photocopier, and eventually culminating in the internet.

And trademark has been equally important as the other regimes, but in different ways and in different eras. Objects like the Lego Brick, the Barbie Doll, and the Coca-Cola Bottle are heavily dependent on trademark; and the companies controlling these objects had a strong hand in influencing the developments of law. We even discuss publicity rights and more recent efforts to control traditional knowledge within the IP system.

We had a ball working out how to ensure that readers understood the wide gamut of IP laws and why each of them matter.

We wanted to tell a vibrant and compelling history of IP, and so turned to the objects which embody IP and which wouldn’t exist without IP’s intervention. This idea came from the field of material culture, a discipline of anthropology and sociology that recognizes that one of the best ways to understand a society is to look at the objects it produces. A Grecian urn or a Roman bath house tells us an enormous amount about the way that people lived, what mattered to them, and how their cultures developed.

The objects were the starting place, but the book still needed to show, rather than just tell. The laboring oar on this aspect of the work fell to Claudy, who was once a professional photographer and film restorer, and who is blessed with an extraordinary eye for design. She worked through an unbelievable number of images and sourced a whole range of pictures that really bring the words alive.

And so the book, which otherwise would have just been a series of chapters about IP, becomes a gorgeous object in itself.

GK: As anyone who has seen the book would readily agree, it is a gorgeous object in itself. More importantly, in my view, is that it represents a real contribution in how to engage both lawyers and laypeople with an eye to increasing their IP literacy. In pursuit of that noble goal, the book proves that showing, as well as telling, brings with it both pedagogical and aesthetic value in a way that makes thinking about IP’s role in our lives a rewarding experience.

My thanks to Professors Op den Kamp and Hunter for the insights and cooperation, and I wish them continued success with the book, A History of Intellectual Property In 50 Objects. It is always a privilege to hear from authors, especially from two who have already contributed so much to the important social imperative of increasing IP literacy with their work. I am always open to conducting interviews of this type with other IP thought leaders, so feel free to reach out if you have a compelling perspective to offer — or a good IP book to read.

Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at [email protected] or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.

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Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique, and Markman Advisors LLC, a leading consultancy on patent issues for the investment community. Gaston’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.