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Intellectual property is at the centre of the "new economy". New economy products are characterised by declining average costs over a range of output, high rates of innovation, and network effects. The return deriving from IPRs is directly correlated to the duration as well as the scope of those rights. The center of IP rights has moved further and further upstream over the past century, to the point of now protecting living organisms, basic research tools, and procedural methods as well as mathematical algorithms and databases. Globalisation and the exploitation of ICT open up opportunities for promoting democracy and wealth in poorer countries. Efficiency-seeking FDI increases competitiveness and the trademark of the competition law is the protection of those principles and practices which facilitate the efficient functioning of markets. Capital flows, in particular FDI, are one of the crucial components of globalisation and international integration. FDIs capitulate more benefits than other types of financial flows in addition to increasing domestic capital stock. This book describes in detail the law and economics of IPRs.
