The Democratization of Invention

B. Zorina Khan is Professor of Economics at Bowdoin College. Her research focuses on the economic history of law, technology, and institutions. She has written articles for journals such as the Journal of Economic History and the American Economic Review. She is on the Editorial board of the Journal of Economic History and is a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

• 1. Introduction; 2. The patent system in Europe and America; 3. Patent laws and litigation; 4. Democratization and patented inventions; 5. Women inventors in America; 6. Patentees and married women's property rights; 7. Great inventors and democratic invention; 8. Copyright in Europe and America; 9. American copyright law; 10. Intellectual property and economic development.

"Given the widespread appeal to history in modern judicial opinions, academic articles, and public policy debates, such empirical work is important. Historians and economists may dispute some of her methods or conclusions, but such debates about the historical facts will be a welcome change to the ascendancy of rhetoric on such subjects. Khan's work is an important contribution to our discourse about American patent law and its historical development." - Adam Mossoff, Michigan State University