Intellectual Property Futures

The past few decades have been witness to a number of important developments with respect to the global intellectual property (IP) system, including shifts in focus between multilateralism and bilateralism/regionalism; growing recognition of the various ways in which IP intersects with and impacts areas including human rights, development, trade, and social justice; broad acknowledgement of the economic value of many IP rights; and important theoretical interventions that have challenged the values underlying the global IP system.

These developments have occurred alongside several other events, changes, and crises that have altered the landscape of our global communities. Chief among them are climate change; armed conflicts; the COVID-19 pandemic; economic changes to work; technological shifts including those relating to the internet and artificial intelligence, and their role in society; and growing recognition of the inequities that exist within and between societies as well as the ways in which these inequities are reinforced and maintained through systemic discrimination and ongoing colonialism.

Given these developments, changes, and crises, what is the future of IP law and policy? Featuring contributions from scholars from across Canada and around the world, this collection offers insights into eighteen possible futures for the global IP system.

Collectively, these chapters re-envision international agreements; rethink Canadian IP law; argue for the creation of space for Indigenous legal traditions; highlight the promises and perils of technology as it relates to IP; expose inequities and injustices, and provide possible pathways to correct them. This book offers the reader insight into aspects of eighteen possible futures for elements of the global IP system, crafted by twenty-three authors. These eighteen chapters, collectively, re-envision international agreements; rethink Canadian IP law; argue for the creation of space for Indigenous legal traditions; highlight the possibilities and perils of technology as it relates to IP; expose inequities and injustices, and provide pathways to correct them. They push the boundaries of what IP is, and what it can accomplish. This set of interventions, many of which have been crafted by early career scholars who are themselves the future of IP, provide a compelling set of possibilities for the future of the global IP system; a set of possibilities that if embraced and adopted would help create a more just, inclusive, and compassionate IP system. It is now up to us to do what we can to help realize these possibilities.
Bassem Awad (Contributor)

Bassem Awad is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Area of Concentration in Intellectual Property, Information and Technology law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario.

Sara Bannerman (Contributor)

Sara Bannerman is Canada Research Chair in Communication Policy and Governance and Professor of Communication Studies at McMaster University.

Mauro Barelli (Contributor)

Mauro Barelli is Professor of International Law at City St George's University of London.

Enrico Bonadio (Contributor)

Enrico Bonadio is Professor of Law at City St George's University of London.

Andrea Cabello (Contributor)

Andrea Cabello is Associate professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Brasilia.

Naama Daniel (Contributor)

Naama Daniel is Research Fellow, Federmann Cyber Security Research Center – Cyber

Law Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Deputy Legal Adviser to the Economic Affairs Committee, the Israeli Parliament (on sabbatical).

Cheryl Dine (Contributor)

Cheryl Dine is a PhD candidate at City St George's University of London.

Mistrale Goudreau (Contributor)

Mistrale Goudreau is full professor at the Civil Law Section of the University of Ottawa.

Gregory Hagen (Contributor)

Gregory R. Hagen is Associate Professor of Law at the University