Historicizing intellectual property and tracing the chain of actors involved in contemporary capitalism's appropriation of intellectual creation.

This work historicizes intellectual property (IP) rights, tracing as it does the entire chain of actors involved in contemporary capitalism's appropriation of intellectual creation. It provides context by revisiting the economic and legal controversies surrounding IP, with particular attention to the history of patents and the technological dimension, as well as the patentability of living organisms. Bessy also examines such IP middlemen as lawyers and intellectual property advisors, analyzing how mobilization on their part affected the founding of a European patent law. Finally, he explores the capitalization and financialization of IP, and the expropriation of workers.