There are many types of influence that are brought to bear on the IP system: political, social, economic. But this year it seems that politicians have been less able to take the initiative on reforming the IP system than anytime in the recent past. There are, as yet, few concrete results from the intense efforts to overhaul patent law in the US over the past three years, for example. In Europe, few IP owners would bet on seeing a Community patent come into existence any time soon, despite a decade of rhetoric from European Union officials.
This year, then, sees a particularly eclectic group of people make it onto Managing IP's list of the 50 most influential people in IP. In addition to a handful of politicians and a group of administrators of the IP system, we have advocates for consumer and patient rights, innovative in-house counsel, out-spoken academics, company...