On the History of Intellectual Property

On the History of Intellectual Property

Why write a history of intellectual property? Looking back at the publication of the Histoire de la propriété intellectuelle, this essay examines the methodological issues involved in such a history, both in terms of defining the subject and of periodisation. Other contributions of such a history are highlighted, whether in terms of the controversial nature of the subject or the different scales involved in its development. Thanks to the possibilities and alternatives that it sheds light on, the history of intellectual property is presented as a political lever for a future to be built.

One book can hide another. By studying the history of French nineteenth-century inventors in the République des inventeurs (2008), I had noticed that the institutions of inventive activity were strongly linked to the question of industrial property. Without reducing one to the other, it was clear that debates on invention could also be debates on patents, and vice versa. The discourse on patents was linked to other types of intellectual property: technical, industrial and artistic.

Later, I repeated this observation through the history of scientific property, which also illustrates a form of syncretism between the different types of intellectual property. Despite their distinct processes of emergence, patent law, trademark law, literary property law and design law could be linked to the same history; in practice, they involved comparable or even identical institutions, the same jurists or lawyers, and creators who constantly referred to one another.

It therefore seemed appropriate to tell this common history, from both a scientific and a civic point of view. Intellectual property is a major issue in our daily lives, as demonstrated by the debate surrounding vaccines against Covid-19, and the construction of a common culture on intellectual property is necessary — in this task, history matters. Understanding this historical construction, with its own contingencies, prevents us from essentialization and helps us to set intellectual property in context, by showing that several alternatives have been possible in its development.