The Global Battle Over Intellectual Property: The Cat-and-Mouse Game of Protection and Enforcement

Author: Susan K. Sell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780197766446

Published In: November 2025
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.S. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only
Paperback Edition ISBN: 9780197766453

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Description
Contents

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Governance of intellectual property (IP) at the international level has in recent decades become one of the most contentious issues in international political economy. It is also enormously complex and dynamic. In The Global Battle Over Intellectual Property, the eminent international relations scholar Susan K. Sell focuses on why IP is such a contested field. The reasons are many. The current IP regime's distributional consequences across countries are highly uneven. There has been a proliferation of international IP forums, sometimes working at cross purposes and striving for different goals. The ever-increasing complexity of the regime raises profound questions about representation and legitimacy. While there is clearly a set of powerful stakeholders, whether they are the right ones or not is an open question.

To address the range of these related issues, Sell focuses on the dynamics driving change and the implications they have for governance and implementing more equitable policies. Throughout, she relies on the metaphor of cat and mouse to explain how the influence of complicated power relations, the strategic use of institutions, and discourse that drive the politics of IP. Combining insights from political economy, law, and sociology, Sell offers new insights into regime complexity and dynamics. Importantly, the framework she develops can be applied to a variety of highly contested issues, including climate change and financial regulation.

Dedication

List of figures and tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

List of abbreviations

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Intellectual Property, Power, Institutions, and Issue Framing

Chapter 3: Cat and Mouse Dynamics: Recursive in Time and Space

Chapter 4: Patents and Access to Medicines: Horizontal Forum-shifting

Chapter 5: Patents and Access to Medicines: Vertical Forum-shifting

Chapter 6: IP as an Investment Asset: Investor-State Dispute Settlement

Chapter 7: Digital Copyright: Internet Treaties, DMCA, and State Transformation