Re: origins of "IP"

> On Sun, 20 Oct 1996, Mark Lemley <MLEMLEY[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu> wrote:
>>
>> I am interested in discovering the origins of the term "intellectual
>> property." My sense is that it is of relatively recent origin, at
>> least when compared to "patent" and "copyright." Any leads would be
>> appreciated.
>>
>> Mark Lemley
>> Assistant Professor, University of Texas School of Law
>> Of Counsel, Fish & Richardson, P.C.
>> mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu
>
> Here's a possible lead. According to Stephen Ladas, The International
> Protection of Literary and Artistic Property 9-10 (1938), the 19th
> century Belgian commentator Edmond Picard used the term "droits
> intellectuels" (intellectual rights) in an article written in 1883;
> Josef Kohler, in his Urheberrecht an Schriftwerken and Verlagsrecht
> (1907) used the term "Immaterialguterrechte" (rights in immaterial
> property). My guess would be that the term "intellectual property"
> dates from approximately the same period or later; maybe someone else
> can pick up on this thread.
>
> Thomas F. Cotter
> (904) 392-2235 (voice)
> cotter[_at_]law.ufl.edu (internet)

This thread brings up another interesting question: When did the concept of property attach to either copyright or patent? The constitutional clause uses the word "monopoly", which under the old common law, would have meant a royal license to conduct a business, not a property concept at all. "Patent" would have had the same meaning at the time, as a patent for a colony. I suspect, but have no evidence, that the propertification of IP took place after 1850 as property was being reified in many other areas of the law.

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