Judicially Crafted Property Rights in Valuable Intangibles

Apostolos G. Chronopoulos examines the doctrine of misappropriation offering a comprehensive and critical review of the relevant case law that takes into consideration the rich academic commentary on the topic.In the INS case, the Supreme Court held that a news agency may enjoin third parties from copying its news stories while these are still fresh . Chronopoulos seeks to clarify the heavily debated doctrinal issues that have since arisen as to: the exact legal nature of the recognized entitlement; whether the Supreme Court sought to establish a principle of general application; and the extent to which state claims to protect valuable intangibles under a common-law theory of liability survive federal preemption. Chronopoulos argues that the protection offered at state level should not be confined to the availability of a narrow tort of unfair competition protecting highly time-sensitive subject matter against parasitic appropriation by direct competitors; rather, the application of the misappropriation doctrine is bound to generate judge-made property rights in intangibles with time value.This book is an indispensable resource for academics who would have an interest in reexploring and revisiting the topic from a doctrinal perspective. Practitioners would also find the book s theoretical groundwork useful.