Scientific and technological innovations frequently put the spotlight on the laws that govern them. In this episode of Innovation Matters, Professor Robin Feldman explains why the protection of invention arrangements can cause trouble and, in many ways, end up acting as a disincentive to innovation. The very nature of inventions makes them impossible to describe unambiguously for all time. When something is so new that we do not understand yet how it works, what it can do, or how it could be applied - as is often the case in biotechnology - description is necessarily slippery. Instead of hoping for clear boundaries, Professor Robin Feldman urges lawmakers to focus on what the law can do well: craft rules that anticipate the bargaining that will occur as rights unfold.