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Publication details

Ìý(2010). The case that launched a thousand writs, or all that is dross? Re-conceiving Darcy v Allen: the Case of Monopolies. Intellectual Property Quarterly 4, pp.356-372.

Abstract

The case of Darcy v Allen is one of the elder statesmen, if not the elder statesman, of intellectual property law. Much of the case's importance, indeed fame, is derived from Sir Edward Coke's report of the decision in which he not only explains the detailed reasons given in the court's judgment but also brands it: The Case of Monopolies. In many respects, Coke's report is treated as being the authoritative account: an account of a bold and uncompromising pronouncement by the courts of the common law that serves as a defining moment within constitutional history. Plaudits decorate it with spectacular praise, and mark it out, among other things, as commencing the history of the English patent system.

Its fame has endured for more than four centuries, and it is still routinely advanced as authority for the proposition that monopolies are, and have always been, against the ancient and fundamental laws of the land. That monopoly is perceived as a ‘bad thing’ is much to be blamed on the decision in Darcy v Allen. However, as this article explores, the foundation provided by Coke's report of the case may not be as sure-footed as it first appears.
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