* Intellectual Property and the Design of Nature

NOT YET PUBLISHED

Intellectual property law has been interacting with nature for over two centuries. Despite this long history, this relationship has largely been ignored. Intellectual Property and the Design of Nature fills this gap by bringing together scholars from different disciplines to examine the important role that nature plays in intellectual property law.

Based on the idea that many contemporary issues require a better understanding of these historical interactions, the book reflects on the ways intellectual property law has engaged with and understood nature in the past. The varied contributions show how the relationship between nature and intellectual property law is often more complex, permeable, and porous than is commonly recognized.

Intellectual Property and the Design of Nature demonstrates the complex and changing role that nature has played in the history of intellectual property law. Each of the chapters casts a new light on these connections. A compelling read for everyone interested in exploring new perspectives in the field of intellectual property.

table of content

The Place of Nature in Intellectual Property

Jose Bellido and Brad Sherman

1:Vegetable Genius: Organic Figures of Originality

Mario Biagioli

2:Denaturing Bacteria: The Sewage Patent Controversy and Biotechnology

Daniel Schneider

3:The Essence of Biology: Broccoli and European Patents on Native Plant Traits

Veit Braun

4:Intellectual Property's Antecedent: Seed Law and the Regulation of Biological Materials in British Colonial Gambia

Susannah Chapman

5:Some Outlandish Legal Tales: The Debate over Plant Propagation

Marie-Angèle Hermitte

6:Novelties, Frauds, and Protections: The Seed and Nursery Busines in Nineteenth-Century America

Daniel J. Kevles

7:Brands Matter: Nature, Economy, and the Gift

Annalisa Colombino and Paolo Palladino

8:Copyright, Nature, and Travel Narratives: Publishing Cook's Voyages

Isabella Alexander

9:Artificial Flowers: Plastic Nature, Synthetic Biology

Jose Bellido and Brad Sherman

10:Modified Pearl Oysters and Repeatable Peaches: Cultivation, Invention, and the Laws of Nature in Twentieth-Century Japan

Kjell David Ericson

11:Scientific Activism and Intellectual Property: How UK-based Agroecologists and Plant Synthetic Biologists have Challenged the Status Quo

Dominic J. Berry

12:Creating New Values in Animals in the Era of Mendel's Rediscovery

Brendan Matz

13:Conceptualizing Nature as Information: Rendering South Asian Nature Searchable and Legible

Allison Fish