ABSTRACT
Using the historical record and case studies, this chapter explores four agricultural products over several centuries, showing that since 47 AD, poor farmers and producers have sought protection for their agricultural methods and unique products. In a number of cases, they were successful and produced such outcomes as French champagne, originally the product of poor peasant producers. Farmed exports, not music nor creative products nor twenty-first-century brands, were the first set of products to achieve protection and thereby income improvement. Intellectual Property (IP) strategies have been used for centuries and IP business methods are not entirely new but have a rich, historical record. Tools such as the "Trade Mark", the earliest form of the word, were truly to assist trade, protect producers, and signal to consumers that the products could be trusted. Intellectual Property continues to create large income gains for products such as wines, spirits, and cheeses and many other agriculturally based products.
