A Virtuous Paradox: How Intellectual Property Promotes Innovation and Competition

It is widely assumed that intellectual property, understood as a monopoly right designed to incentivize innovation, inherently stands in tension with antitrust’s commitment to preserving competition.  Yet this assumption is challenged in markets where IP rights can enhance both innovation and competition by enabling transactions that promote entry and facilitate commercialization.  In two critical U.S. tech sectors—biotech and semiconductors—policy actions that strengthened patent protec