The Economist et la controverse sur les brevets, 1850-1875

Abstract

The opening of Great Exhibition of 1851 coincided with the start of a long debate on the law of patents. The question was whether patents were an encouragement to economic development or a hindrance. For The Economist which had been founded a few years earlier in the wake of the debate on the Corn Laws, the straightforward answer was that they were a hindrance and should be abolished. This article examines the arguments used by The Economist and shows that its analysis technological progress in the Victorian industry foreshadowed some of today’s concerns.

Keywords

• invention
• patent system
• intellectual property
• industrial property
• technology
• knowledge