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Flaws in the Evolving Understanding of the Constitution’s Intellectual Property Clause

Published onAug 07, 2022
Flaws in the Evolving Understanding of the Constitution’s Intellectual Property Clause

18 Wake Forest J. Bus. & Intell. Prop. L. 281

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution
confers onto Congress the authority “[t]o promote the Progress of
Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and
Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and
Discoveries.

By design, and with the understanding of the immense power a
monopoly can have, the framers of the Constitution found it necessary
to grant such monopolies to better society. This compromise would
allow all those who created something useful, creative, or furthered
science to reap the fruits of their labor. However, this incentive was
not intended to be a license that guarantees riches to the inventor,
author, or assignees, but rather a reward for their societal contribution.
This incentive was a quid pro quo between the authors and the public.

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