Enforcement: A Neglected Child in the Intellectual Property Family

Effective enforcement is essential to the protection of intellectual property rights. Without enforcement, these rights will be of little value. Although intellectual property enforcement has been around for as long as intellectual property rights have existed, this topic has not caught much attention from intellectual property commentators and instructors until the past decade.Today, there remains a dearth of theoretical literature on intellectual property enforcement, and specialized courses on this topic remain rare. Even when enforcement is covered as part of an intellectual property course, the topic tends to be discussed either at the end of the course or in conjunction with infringements.This chapter begins by identifying four different types of enforcement issues that intellectual property commentators and instructors usually explore. It then discusses why enforcement remains a neglected child in the intellectual property family. It further suggests two different tracks — the digital track and the global track — to help integrate enforcement back into its larger family. The chapter concludes with a cautiously optimistic view on the prospects of such integration.