Reviews
[E]minently readable and eruditeRooksby's attempts to bring back balance and sanity to a situation that seems almost out of control are detailed and well argued.
... an important and unique contribution to higher education scholarship and policy.
One of the benefits of Rooksby’s book is that it is written with the nonspecialist in mind. In fact, he has made the book accessible to those who are in the driver’s seat at institutions of higher education— the administrators, trustees, and student affairs professionals.
The Branding of the American Mind provides a cogent, thoughtful account of an important and underappreciated development: US universities’ steady embrace of intellectual property rights. In addition to thoroughly describing this troubling phenomenon, Professor Rooksby offers a promising path toward tempering the role of trademarks, patents, and copyrights in academia and reinvigorating public values in higher education.
Jacob Rooksby’s book presents a master tour of the many forms of intellectual property that implicate campus life—copyright, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, Internet domain names, the right of publicity. More importantly, Rooksby situates these types of intellectual property in law, practice, and academic custom. No other single volume has ever addressed all these topics, read so well, or set out issues so authoritatively.
The Branding of the American Mind is accessible, bold, balanced, and practical. By taking on the university’s inherent conflict of interest in aggressively protecting its intellectual property while professing service to the public interest, Rooksby uncovers contradictions wrapped in self-serving cant. For those of us who believe in the university as an institution, this book poses challenges that cannot be ignored.
An edifying and engaging book by a gifted writer who is one of the leading scholars in law and higher education. The Branding of the American Mind is pathbreaking and timely.
Jacob Rooksby has crafted a splendid and timely work that will equally enlighten scholars and lay observers with a rich array of valuable insights. This volume uniquely recognizes and explains in context the rapid emergence of new dimensions in the blending of higher education and public policy in this vital sphere. Particularly valuable are a series of bold policy recommendations for enhancing institutional policy and altering current law.
An engaging and thought-provoking treatment of contemporary intellectual property issues in higher education, The Branding of the American Mind provides a well documented exploration of the interrelationship between IP law and policy. Effectively using IP 'stories,' Rooksby highlights the tension between the 'public good' and 'private rights' and recommends changes in policy and law that would fortify higher education’s commitment to the public good.
Rooksby provides a broad, understandable overview of the how the legal principles informing intellectual property in higher education have changed over the past fifty years, draws upon cases that dramatically illustrate the new dilemmas these changes in private rights pose to the public good, and suggests the ways in which the law can be changed or modified to preserve the public good without stifling creativity, economic innovation and technology development.
Book Details
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 – Intellectual Property, Higher Education, and the Public Good
Of Mice and Money
Public Goods and Private Goods: Higher Education and Intellectual Property
Private
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 – Intellectual Property, Higher Education, and the Public Good
Of Mice and Money
Public Goods and Private Goods: Higher Education and Intellectual Property
Private Rights, Public Goods, and the Role of Institutional Agency
Why Intellectual Property Law and Policy Matter to Higher Education
Outline of the Book
Chapter 2 – Intellectual Property Explained
Copyright
Patent
Trademark
Trade Secret
Internet Domain Names
Right of Publicity
Chapter 3 – University
Rolling Heads, Rolling Tide
The Emergence of Trademark Protection in Higher Education
Trademark Rights Accretion in Higher Education
The Harms That Come from Trademark Rights Accretion
Trademark Rights Accretion and the Public Good
Higher Education's Trademark Enforcement Itch
Trademark Enforcement and the Public Good
Private Rights, Public Goods
Chapter 4 – University Patents Under the Sun
Our Bodies, Their Genes
University Engagement in Patenting and Technology Transfer
Pre-1980 Activity
Post-1980 Activity
Institutional Intellectual Property Polices and Structures Affecting Patenting
University Patenting and Technology Transfer Today
Myriad Choices
Sue U.
Universities and Patent Reform
Private Rights, Public Goods
Chapter 5 – Copyright on Campus
Designs on Your Design
Copyright Ownership and Use in Higher Education
Company in the Classroom
Digital Dilemmas
Private Rights, Public Goods
Chapter 6 – In Pursuit of Brand: Names, Domain Names, Images, Slogans, and Secrets
A Bear of a Brand
The Power of Brand
New Names, New Meaning
Expanding Domains
EDUCAUSE and the.EDU
College and University Battles for Cyberspace
Higher Education's Online Brand and the Public Good
Made in Their Image
Insert Catchy New Slogan Here
Keeping Secrets
Private Rights, Public Goods
Chapter 7 – Private Rights in the Public Interest: A Path Forward
Stopping the Accretion: Bringing Sanity Back to College and University
Trademarks
Patent Law Made University Friendly
From Claiming Copyright to Claiming Commons
Pulling Back from Brand
Implementing Intellectual Property Change on Campus
Private Rights in Service of the Public Good
Appendix
Notes
Index