Patents for Power: Intellectual Property Law and the Diffusion of Military Technology
Description
In an era when knowledge can travel with astonishing speed, the need for analysis of intellectual property (IP) law—and its focus on patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and issues of copyright—has never been greater. But as Robert M. Farley and Davida H. Isaacs stress in Patents for Power, we have long overlooked critical ties between IP law and one area of worldwide concern: military technology. This deft blend of case studies, theoretical analyses, and policy advice reveals the fundamental role of IP law in shaping how states create and transmit defense equipment and weaponry.
The book probes two major issues: the effect of IP law on innovation itself and the effect of IP law on the international diffusion, or sharing, of technology. Discussing a range of inventions, from the AK-47 rifle to the B-29 Superfortress bomber to the MQ-1 Predator drone, the authors show how IP systems (or their lack) have impacted domestic and international relations across a number of countries, including the United States, Russia, China, and South Korea. The study finds, among other results, that while the open nature of the IP system may encourage industrial espionage like cyberwarfare, increased state uptake of IP law is helping to establish international standards for IP protection. This clear-eyed approach to law and national security is thus essential for anyone interested in history, political science, and legal studies.
Reviews
Graeme Gooday, H-Net, February 2023
Short Articles and Blog Posts
- Robert Farley and Davida Isaacs, The Stark Reality of Defense Contracting, The American Prospect, May 10, 2010
- Tyler Lovell and Robert Farley, Engine Trouble: Why China’s Home-Made Engines Aren’t Good Enough for Its Air Force, The National Interest
- Robert Farley, The Secret Reason America’s Military Dominates: Nazi Weapons Tech?, The National Interest
- Robert Farley, The F-35 Stealth Fighter Might Have Another Problem, The National Interest
- Robert Farley, The Loon: The US Military’s Forgotten World War II Cruise Missile, The National Interest
- Robert Farley, The Pentagon Turns to Intellectual Property to Protect U.S. Military Dominance, World Politics Review, April 21, 2016
- Robert Farley, Stopping China’s Intellectual Property Theft: What Trump Can Learn From His Predecessors, The Diplomat, March 30, 2018
- Robert Farley, How China Might Repel the US Intellectual Property Trade Offensive, The Diplomat, January 9, 2019
- Robert Farley, Change and Continuity in Intellectual Property Enforcement: The Case of Huawei, The Diplomat, May 29, 2019
- Robert Farley, The Strategic Consequences of a US-China Rift on Intellectual Property, The Diplomat, January 8, 2019
- Robert Farley, With TPP’s Demise, What Happens to US Intellectual Property Rights Abroad?, The Diplomat, November 30, 2016
- Robert Farley, Intellectual Property, Defense Technology, and the Future of Great Power Relations, The Diplomat, March 14, 2019
- Robert Farley, Intellectual Property and the Coming US-China Trade War, The Diplomat, August 24, 2017
- Robert Farley, Robert Mo, Wen Ho Lee, and Non-Military Chinese Intellectual Property Theft, The Diplomat, July 7, 2020
- Robert Farley, Sunday Book Review: Torpedo, Lawyers, Guns and Money, June 15, 2014
- Robert Farley, Why US Export Control Policy Matters, The Diplomat, September 30, 2020
- Catherine Putz and Robert Farley, Farley on Patents and Power: Where Intellectual Property Law and Military Technology Meet, The Diplomat, November 17, 2020
- Robert Farley, IP Dispute May Slow Canada’s Plans to Procure New Frigates, The Diplomat, November 23, 2020
- Robert Farley, Will US Policy on Intellectual Property Protection Change Under Biden?, The Diplomat, December 29, 2020
Academic Works
- Isaacs, Davida H., and Robert M. Farley. “Privilege-Wise and Patent (and Trade Secret) Foolish? How the Courts’ Misapplication of the Military and State Secrets Privilege.” Berkeley Technology Law Journal 24, no. 2 (2009): 785-818.
- Farley, Robert. “Intellectual Property, Cyber Espionage, and Military Diffusion.” Global Security and Intelligence Studies 1, no. 2 (2016): 3.
- Dainoff, Charles, Robert Farley, and Erik M. Fay. “Arms Transfers, Intellectual Property, and the Diffusion of Military Technology.” Democracy and Security (2020): 1-28.
- Isaacs, Davida H., Not All Property is Created Equal: Why Modern Courts Resist Applying the Takings Clause to Patients, and Why they are Right to Do So, 15 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 1 (2007).
Podcasts and Other Media
- Patterson Perspectives, Patents for Power, February 8, 2021
- Balloons to Drones, Robert Farley- Airpower and Patent Wars, February 1, 2021
- The Diplomat, Patents for Power: Defense Technology and Intellectual Property, August 13, 2020
- Midrats, Military Power and Intellectual Property, with Robert Farley, July 26, 2020
- Ipse Dixit, Robert Farley on Intellectual Property and Military Technology, July 3, 2020
- War Room, Intellectual Property Rights and National Security, February 5, 2019
- Lawyers Guns and Money, Taking Nazi Technology I, December 11, 2019
- Lawyers Guns and Money, Taking Nazi Technology II: How Knowledge Moves, December 17
Reading List
- Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Simon and Schuster, 2012.
- O’Reagan, Douglas M. Taking Nazi Technology: Allied Exploitation of German Science after the Second World War. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.
- Johns, Adrian. Piracy: The intellectual property wars from Gutenberg to Gates. University of Chicago Press, 2010.
- Hasik, James. Arms and Innovation: Entrepreneurship and Alliances in the Twenty-First Century Defense Industry. University of Chicago Press, 2008.
- Dombrowski, Peter J., and Eugene Gholz. Buying military transformation: Technological innovation and the defense industry. Columbia University Press, 2006.
- Epstein, Katherine C. Torpedo. Harvard University Press, 2014.
- Weinberger, Sharon. The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA, the Pentagon Agency that Changed the World. Knopf, 2017.
- Krige, John ed. How Knowledge Moves: Writing the Transnational History of Science and Technology. University of Chicago Press, 2019.
- Goldstone, Lawrence. Birdmen: the Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the battle to control the skies. Ballantine Books, 2015.
- Hvistendahl, Mara. The Scientist and the Spy: A True Story of China, the FBI, and Industrial Espionage. Riverhead Books, 2020.