Intellectual Property Protection for Computer Software: A Comparative Analysis of the United States and Japanese Intellectual Property Regimes

This thesis explores the reform of intellectual property regulation policies with respect to computer software within two advanced industrial nations after 1980. A comparative case analysis of the United States and Japan will provide insight as to how advanced industrial nations have responded to market forces, competing private interests, and international pressure for policy harmonization in the construction and implementation of intellectual property regulation reforms. This study will show that ideological and structural arrangements of state institutions have influenced the extent of liberalization in intellectual property policy, and the preservation of equilibrium between individual rights and public interests in the establishment of intellectual property.