Progress as Impact : A Contemporary View of the Copyright and Patent Clause

The Constitution grants Congress the power to promote the progress of science and the useful arts through the intellectual property clause. Scholars and the courts understand “progress” to mean an increase in the creation and dissemination of copyrighted works and patented inventions It is assumed that an increase, whether quantitatively and qualitatively, in intellectual works will advance social welfare and cause economic progress. Progress, however, is quite different from growth or advancement in the collective body of knowledge or technological skill-set. Progress requires human commitment of energy and time towards forward movement and an improvement from the status quo. Such human commitment towards improvement generates entrepreneurial activities drawing upon innovative and creative applications of knowledge and skills towards a specific and directed output. This article argues that intellectual property laws need to have a more contemporary understanding of progress, one that reflects the reality and practicality of how progress actually unfolds and shows how construing progress as making an impact on social and economic welfare through entrepreneurial activities may be a more contemporarily appropriate understanding we should strive for