The Effect of Judicial Ideology in Intellectual Property Cases
49 Pages Posted: 3 Jul 2007
Date Written: July 2, 2007
Abstract
This article investigates the relationship between ideology and judicial decision-making in the context of intellectual property. This article empirically establishes that judicial decision making in relation to IP is significantly and predictably shaped by judicial ideology. Using data drawn from Supreme Court intellectual property cases decided in between 1954 and 2006, we show that ideology is a significant determinant of cases involving intellectual property rights. However, our analysis also shows that there are significant differences between intellectual property and other areas of the law with respect to the effect of ideology. This analysis has important implications for the study of intellectual property. It also contributes to the broader judicial ideology literature by demonstrating the effect of ideology in economic cases.
Keywords: intellectual property, ideology, politics, attitudinal model, empirical, supreme court, federal circuit, patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret
JEL Classification: K1, K11
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation