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July 21, 2005
International fight over IPR
For all of us who haven't been paying close attention (including me), there is a major international fight going at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). I have been monitoring the issue only in a peripheral way - but thought it had come to a point where it needed to be commented upon.
The battle is often framed as the industrialized nations (owners of IP who want to protect their "property") versus developing nations (users who want to be able to use that "property" -- "steal" that property if you follow the harsh language of some). But, as Intellectual Property Watch blog point out, the conflict is subtler than just raw economic interests (although that undoubtedly plays a big part):
The dispute between the United States and Brazil shows the underlying disagreement in philosophies regarding the usefulness of intellectual property rights in promoting innovation and development.
A Brazilian delegate said that higher standards of intellectual property protection have not delivered benefits to developing countries, and that there has been widespread concern that new norms of protection may actually be inhibiting rather than facilitating transfer of technology.
Companies may use their government-granted monopoly rights to block countries from adapting these technologies to their own needs or to prevent competition, he added. These problems are exacerbated in environments where rules go beyond those agreed to in the 1994 World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). "The intellectual property system should be made to deliver on those objectives" to promote development, he said.
"I think the U.S. totally rejects anything that changes this organization's modus operandi that helps developing countries," a Brazilian delegate charged. "I hope I am not correct."
The U.S. delegate assured Brazil that his government has expressed a "willingness to discuss" development issues and fully supports U.N. efforts. But he said the United States disagrees with the premises upon which Friends of Development proposal is based - that WIPO has not dealt with development issues, and that intellectual property rights have not been positive for innovation.
U.S. Rejects Access To Knowledge Treaty Proposal
Another area of contention between the United States and Brazil was a proposal put forward by Brazil for WIPO to negotiate an "access to knowledge" treaty. Brazil said there is a problem of the appropriation of publicly funded "basic science" and research by private companies which has the effect of removing the knowledge from the public domain.
Brazil's delegate cited "worrisome" legislation in the United States that encourages the transfer of more research from universities to private sector, which he said would lead to more monopolies and less innovation.
The access to knowledge treaty, sometimes referred to as the A2K treaty, would ensure this information remains public, feeding science and research, Brazil said. WIPO must address this problem, he said, adding, "We believe an access to knowledge treaty is the real power tool that WIPO should pursue."
The United States said it cannot support the proposal, and that it "strongly disagrees" with the principles underlying it and views it as "unnecessary." Intellectual property has been a strong driver of innovation rather than an impediment, the U.S. said.
The European Union could be the wild-card in the debate, as the United Kingdom's statement did not reject the access to knowledge treaty proposal, and said WIPO has a role in the debate.
This split mirrors the domestic US split between those who believe that strong intellectual property protection is necessary to provide the incentives for innovation and those who believe that overprotection stifles the free flow of information that is the foundation of innovation and thereby retards innovation. (See the summary of last month's Athena Alliance briefing Is the US Patent System Endangering American Innovation?).
For those interested in monitoring the situation, I would recommend signing up for the Intellectual Property Watch email list or read their blog.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at July 21, 2005 12:39 PM
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