Gene Quinn (author of IPWatchdog.com) has released a list of the top 50 Patent Blogs. Although this is a non-scientific survey, it is worth looking at the list and making sure that you are visiting regularly the blogs that are important for you. Not all the blogs relate to the area of work that IQsensato focuses on, but it’s worth a look to check you are in the loop.

Seeing this list made me realize how large a role blogging really plays in information flows in the world of patents and intellectual property (IP) issues. Of course, the top 50 blogs are more or less targeted at the subject ‘insider’ and are focused on patents, but this made me think that all this communicating with people who are on the ‘inside’ may be reducing our ability to communicate the issues to the so-called ‘outside world’, where debate, policy making, governance and impact really happen.

Although not all blogs focus on policy issues that the wider public is interested in, the increased use of blogs on IP is exciting. But let us not forget that we also need to stir up more public debate, hear from a range of civil society groups, debate the issue of IP and global public goods, discuss the price impact on medicines, restrictions on innovation, etc., etc., etc.

IQsensato would like to encourage IP policy debates to be more public policy debates. I am keen to see and hear about IP-focused blogs that are more policy focused and accessible to the subject ‘outsider’, as well as to make contact with anybody focusing on talking to non-IP specialists about IP issues. The question of how to communicate with non-IP specialists about IP issues should be something that IP experts pay greater attention to, especially in the blogosphere.