Internet Litigation And The Battle to Protect Intellectual Property Rights

Previously published in San Diego Daily Transcript, August 2004.

Important battles that will shape the future of the Internet are under way in courts and legislatures around the globe, as owners of intellectual property (IP) struggle to define the contours of their rights in our increasingly digital world.

Using the three major prongs of IP law — patents, copyrights and trademarks — lawyers and lobbyists are reshaping the legal landscape that controls the Internet. These battles are huge, both in scope and impact. Many spring from technologies that could scarcely have been conceived of a decade ago, and involve hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties and/or revenues.