Book: Innovation at Risk

Three free chapters are available online of a book to be published by the Princeton University Press, Innovation at Risk: The empirical case that today’s patent system discourages innovators—and how it might be fixed, by James Bessen and Michael J. Meurer. To see if it’s of interest, you might take a look at the Synopsis [PDF] or Chapter 1: Introduction: The Argument in Brief [PDF]. The other free chapters are: 3: If You Can’t Tell the Boundaries, Then It Ain’t Property [PDF] and 9: Abstract Patents and Software [PDF]. You’ll also find a few links to associated material on patents on the site.

Bessen is an economist and a software developer; he is currently Lecturer in Law at Boston University School of Law. Meurer has taught both economics and law; he is a Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law.

[via beSpacific]