The idea for this book occurred at a bus stop in Geneva in 1993. Drahos and Braithwaite were on their way to conduct some interviews at UNCTAD for a project on global business regulation. The bus was a natural choice for two impecunious academics not wishing to be profligate with their funders’ money (the National Science Foundation, the American Bar Association and the Australian Research Council). Drahos was going on about the importance of the changes in intellectual property regulation. Braithwaite, after some patient listening, interrupted, suggesting that they write two books together, one on the globalization of business regulation and another on the globalization of intellectual property. Drahos agreed. The bus arrived taking the duo to the first of their interviews at UNCTAD that morning.