Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1999
Publisher
Yale Law School
Language
en-US
Abstract
Ralph Sharp Brown crossed out the "Junior" that followed his name after his father died. In explanation of the hand-altered stationery, he said (if my recollection holds), "I'm the only one left now." Now, after Ralph's death, there may remain no Ralph Sharp Browns. But there are many law teachers who continue to wage the campaign that Ralph made his life work: to save an interdependent society from unnecessary and stagnating restraints on liberty. In the intellectual property area, Ralph sought to teach us that it can be both right and necessary to give individuals the liberty to "reap without sowing," and that we should fear the excessive protectionism that can result from an overblown and ungenerous sense of what's "due" to property claimants.
Recommended Citation
Wendy J. Gordon, Ralph Sharp Brown, Intellectual Property, and the Public Interest--Introduction, 108 YALE L.J. 1611 (1999).
