The Entrepreneurial Commons: Reframing the Relationship Between Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship

Framing the relationship between intellectual property and entrepreneurship in the terms described here leads both to a positive and normative research agenda. As a descriptive matter, there is much to be gained from systematically studying these questions in a variety of different contexts. Indeed, a fuller picture of the relationship requires numerous case studies of different firms and different industries. From this descriptive knowledge base, normative conclusions about changes to our intellectual property laws and rules that would benefit entrepreneurs can more readily and justifiably be drawn.