Join the Federalist Society for a discussion with Commissioner F. Scott Kieff of the U.S. International Trade Commission on the role of patents as property. Lunch will be served. 

In what ways do patents function like property? In what ways are the problems of property–inefficiencies, inequalities, etc.–more or less pernicious for patents than for more tangible forms of property? In what ways do patents facilitate or frustrate ability to strike and enforce contracts? Basic insights about property and contract often are learned using direct evidence about examples from a local and tangible setting. But today’s governments are increasingly relying on indirect inferences when wrestling with national and international flows of intangible assets. Current hot topics in the fields of trade, intellectual property, and antitrust raise basic questions that include which bodies of law and which government organizations are best suited to address which aspects of the many flows of both physical and digital commerce across borders. Commissioner Kieff will offer reflections on these contemporary debates with an eye towards more basic questions about whether traditional approaches should be reassessed.