Comparative Intellectual Property & Religion

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

IP Theory

Journal Abbreviation

Intell. Prop. Theory

Abstract

How can religion play a role in comparative intellectual property (IP) law scholarship? Why have comparative IP scholars rarely focused on religion, which seems to be relegated to discussions about legal history or non-Western legal systems? Should comparative IP scholarship consider religious dimensions of Western IP laws, and if so, can religion provide a reformation of modern IP laws? And what does “religion” mean, or how should it be defined in such questions?

Scholarly conversations and debates about IP theories have largely been devoid of religion and spiritual traditions even though religion and faith are part of many current societies and have been part of history and cultures. Comparative IP legal analysis, which focuses on the comparison of IP in different legal systems of the world to analyze their similarities and differences, has addressed research questions pertaining to internationalized and harmonized fields of law. The inability of comparative IP scholarship to recognize the role and importance of religion is a problem for IP theory and for IP legal systems generally. While religion scholarship has begun to enter the discussion in IP scholarship pertaining to faith perspectives on IP broadly or particular IP rights specifically, comparative IP scholarship has ignored religion in comparative studies that can assist policymakers, revise existing IP laws, and implement new standards derived from international or national initiatives. In an era where comparative IP legal analysis is developing and serving as a crucial tool to promote international understanding in the scholarly community and beyond, few scholars have questioned whether religion plays a role or should play a role in any research questions or as part of a research methodology.

This Article introduces religion to comparative IP scholarship and explains how faith-based considerations can enhance it. Comparative IP scholars have extensively studied different IP laws in different jurisdictions, but they seemed to suggest an erroneous view that comparative IP and religion are like two parallel lines without intersection. Building on these scholars’ work, this Article discusses religion’s role in fostering a new vehicle for discussion and a new normative lens with the aim of ascertaining the existence and extent of religion in legal systems, serving as part of the comparison methodology between legal systems with potential for influencing the policy debates within U.S. legal systems. In addition to proposing the enhancement of comparative IP scholarship with religion, this Article helps to solve the problem of the lack of congruity between legal systems by finding surprising possibilities of functional equivalents and functional similarities. In a nutshell, the IP laws of many modern countries are substantially influenced by religion in various dimensions, even though religion’s role may differ in different domains.

First Page

2

Last Page

16

Publication Date

2024

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