Based on author's thesis (doctoral - Monash University, 1997) issued under title: From privileges to the Paris Convention : the role of theoretical debate in the evolution of national and international patent protection.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- France- development of legal and philosophical ideas underlying the patent system : 1790 to 1859 -- United Kingdom : development of ideas and concepts about the theoretical basis of the patent system : 1790-1852 -- United Kingdom : development of ideas and concepts about the theoretical basis of the patent system : 1853-1872 -- Overview of patent abolition debates : France, the Netherlands and Prussia 1860s and 1870s -- Stepping into the international arena -- Springtime in Paris -- The logical conclusion -- Conclusion : linking the past, present and future.

This volume offers new insight into key developments in the history of protection for patent rights during the period 1791-1883. The author presents a detailed examination of the underlying theoretical bases advanced for the protection of patents in various key European countries, and including new material focusing on the political rhetoric of protagonists and opponents of the patent system during the course of the patent abolitionist debates of the 1860s and 1870s. Finally, the book examines in detail the factors which prompted the movement towards international protection of patents, culminating in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883.

Description based on print version record.