In the modern era of Intellectual Property (IP) - i.e., the
last 150 years or so - it has always been a given that patents,
copyrights, trademarks, service marks, design rights and all other
IP rights can or will expire. Businesses, inventors and
professionals in the IP field operate as they do precisely because
the intangible asset protections they all focus on are impermanent
or in need of regular upkeep. But what if that suddenly
changed?
What if, all at once, the legal protections granted to every IP right holder under the laws of nations,
provinces, regions and other jurisdictions worldwide became
permanent? Some of the impacts of this alteration would be felt
instantly, though most of the repercussions would not materialize
for quite some time.
