Are intellectual property rights working for society?

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) play a key role in increasingly intangible economies. At the same time IPR systems are facing a profound legitimacy crisis, as scholars have unveiled perverse mechanisms and strategic practices that can severely hinder their expected societal returns. In this introduction to the Special Issue, we provide an overview of the key debates and the recent evidence on the societal role of IPRs. After providing a brief introduction to IPRs and their specific societal function, we integrate insights from different disciplinary discourses into several key emerging themes. We highlight the progress made in recent research, but also flag urgent research gaps and directions to further expand the frontiers of scholarly and policy debates.