Intellectual Property: A First Principles Debate [POLICYbrief]
Short video featuring Kristen Osenga and Stephan Kinsella
Short video featuring Kristen Osenga and Stephan Kinsella
Why does the government protect patents, copyrights, and trademarks? Should it? Kristen Osenga, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, and Stephan Kinsella, author of Against Intellectual Property, explore the concept of intellectual property and debate its effect on society as a whole.
Learn more about Kristen Osenga: https://law.richmond.edu/faculty/kosenga/
Learn more about Stephan Kinsella: http://www.stephankinsella.com/
Follow Stephan Kinsella: https://twitter.com/NSKinsella
@NSKinsella
As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Austin E. Owen Research Scholar & Professor of Law, The University of Richmond School of Law
Dean Kristen Jakobsen Osenga teaches and writes in the areas of patent law, antitrust, and legislation and regulation. Some of her recent scholarship focuses on standard development organizations, patent eligible subject matter, patent licensing firms, litigation and remedies for patent infringement, and patent law reform. She has written numerous law review articles on these and other topics, as well as book chapters and op eds on various aspects of patent law. Additionally, she has spoken on these issues at many academic conferences and bar events. Dean Osenga is Chief Policy Counselor for the Inventors Defense Alliance, as well as an active member of the Federal Circuit Bar Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
Dean Osenga received a B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa, an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, and a J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude. After law school, she practiced at the law firm of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, & Dunner LLP, (now Finnegan) where she did patent prosecution and litigation. She then clerked for the Judge Richard Linn of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. After clerking, she entered academia, teaching first at Chicago-Kent College of Law and then at the University of Richmond, where she has been since 2006. She has also been a Visiting Professor at Emory University School of Law and at William & Mary School of Law.
Director, Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom
Stephan Kinsella, a retired attorney and libertarian writer in Houston, is a leading libertarian legal theorist and opponent of intellectual property law. He was previously General Counsel for Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., a partner with Duane Morris, and adjunct professor at South Texas College of Law Houston. He received an LL.M. (international business law) from King’s College London, a JD from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University (LSU), and BSEE and MSEE degrees from LSU.
He has spoken, lectured and published widely on intellectual property law and international law, and various areas of libertarian legal theory, including rights and punishment, contract theory, and intellectual property policy. Libertarian-related publications include Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Papinian Press, 2023) and Against Intellectual Property (Mises Institute, 2008). His legal publications include Internati
Kinsella is a member of the Judicial Committee of the Libertarian Party (2022–2026), a member of the Editorial Board of Reason Papers (2009–), Founder and Director of the Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom (2010–present), was Founder and Executive Editor of Libertarian Papers (2009–2018), a Senior Fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009–2013), and served as Chair of the Computer Law Subcommittee of the Federalist Society’s Intellectual Property Practice Group.