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61. International Patenting

Author:
Per Botolf Maurseth and Roger Svensson
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
International patenting is increasing in importance. Patents protection is sought in the inventors' homeland but increasingly also in other countries. Globalization, high growth rates in high-tech industries, growing emerging markets and harmonization of patent institutions across countries have stimulated increased international patenting. We use a simple model of international patenting developed by Eaton and Kortum(1996) where the decision to patent in a country depends on country characteristics and the quality of the patented invention. With access to a unique database on Swedish firms' patents and patent behavior we are able to estimate some of these relations and test their validity. Our results indicate that the propensity to apply for international patent protection increases with indicators of the value of the invention and indictors of technological rivalry and market size in the markets where patent applications are submitted.
Topic:
Globalization, International Law, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Intellectual Property/Copyright

62. Does Licensing Induce Technological Spillovers to Domestic Firms?

Author:
Luis Castro
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
Productivity differences can explain differences in economic growth across countries. It has been demonstrated that the presence of a foreign-owned multinational enterprise (MNE) in a developing country is one of the most important methods through which technology transfer occurs. This presence could be in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI), licensing, or imports from the developing country. However, it is still unclear by what means and how effectively each type of foreign presence affects domestic productivity. In this paper, I study licensing as one of the channels through which foreign technology is transferred to domestic plants. This technology transfer can occur in one industry and also in related industries, which results in technology spillovers that can affect both intra- and inter-industry productivity. Moreover, the institutional framework of the country can affect the type of foreign presence adopted by MNEs in the host country. Therefore, it is important to analyze the effect of a change in the institutional framework on technology spillovers. This can be achieved by analyzing a set of new and stronger intellectual property rights (IPR). Using Chilean firm level data for the 2001–2007 period I find that there are positive inter-industry spillover effects when licensing occurs in downstream sectors which result in higher productivity for domestic plants in upstream sectors (backward spillovers). When evaluating the effect of the IPR measure, I find that stronger IPR measures decrease the backward spillover effect. I also find that the change in policy has a stronger effect on firms that are, on average, smaller and have low productivity. Moreover, there is a crowding-out effect between licensing and FDI since, with better IPR, MNEs prefer doing licensing than incurring higher costs of FDI. This is consistent with the literature arguing that licensing becomes the preferred mode of technology transfer, replacing FDI, once a certain threshold of IPR is reached.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Intellectual Property/Copyright, Business, and Spillovers
Political Geography:
South America and Chile

63. Two TRIPs to Innovation: Pharmaceutical Innovation Systems in India and Brazil

Author:
Verena Schüren
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
So far, the implementation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) and the dynamics of innovation systems have been discussed fairly separately from each other. Research on TRIPs implementation has tended to focus on the (non-) adoption of certain TRIPs flexibilities while the literature on National Systems of Innovation (NSI) widely neglects the impact of global norms on innovation systems. This paper aims to reconcile these two approaches. My analysis of the post-TRIPs pharmaceutical innovation systems (PIS) in India and Brazil reveals major differences in the regulatory outcomes that go far beyond the mere (non-)adoption of certain flexibilities. Driven by unequal state roles, India and Brazil have evolved into having two different types of innovation systems in the post-TRIPs era. The paper asks how innovation systems are developing under the conditions of globalization and, through this, it contributes to the discussion on innovation systems in emerging economies.
Topic:
Globalization, Intellectual Property/Copyright, Innovation, Norms, Pharmaceuticals, and Emerging Economies
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, Brazil, and South America

64. "Protectors of Privacy: Regulating Personal Data in the Global Economy" by Abraham L. Newman

Author:
Judith Wagner DeCew
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Abraham Newman has written a thoughtful and provocative book about the protection of privacy and how it has evolved in two dramatically different ways in the European Union and the United States over the past 50 years.
Topic:
Intellectual Property/Copyright
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

65. Fighting software piracy: which governance tools matter in Africa?

Author:
Antonio Rodríguez Andrés and Simplice A. Asongu
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This article integrates previously missing components of government quality into the governancepiracy nexus in exploring governance mechanisms by which global obligations for the treatment of IPRs are effectively transmitted from international to the national level in the battle against piracy. It assesses the best governance tools in the fight against piracy and upholding of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). The instrumentality of IPR laws (treaties) in tackling piracy through good governance mechanisms is also examined. Findings demonstrate that: (1) while all governance tools under consideration significantly decrease the incidence of piracy, corruptioncontrol is the most effective weapon; (2) but for voice and accountability, political stability and democracy, IPR laws (treaties) are instrumental in tackling piracy through government quality dynamics of rule of law, regulation quality, government effectiveness, corruption-control, and press freedom. Hence, the need for a policy approach most conducive to expanding development is to implement an integrated system of both IPRs and corollary good governance policies. Moreover, our findings support the relevance of good governance measures in developing countries wishing to complement their emerging IPR regimes.
Topic:
Intellectual Property/Copyright, Governance, Piracy, and Software
Political Geography:
Africa

66. Balancing Diversity and Efficiency in the EU's Language Regime: E Pluribus Tres for the EU Patent?

Author:
Stephanie Locatelli
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Recently, the European Commission has breathed new life into the decade-long attempt to create a patent that would protect inventors throughout the European Union with a proposal making English, French, and German the sole languages of the EU patent. This would reduce the cost of patenting, thereby stimulating research and development within the EU. But the EU-wide patent has reached an impasse as member states struggle with the question of which languages should be used. Italy in particular has opposed the exclusion of Italian, raising more general questions about the language regime in the European Union. Are diversity and efficiency mutually exclusive, or is there a formula that can satisfy both criteria? It appears, in the end, that the Commission's proposal is the most effective way of cutting costs while at the same time preserving the multilingual character of the EU. For Italy, however, the question of trilingualism in the patent system has become a kind of litmus test of its rank within the EU.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and Intellectual Property/Copyright
Political Geography:
Europe, France, and Germany

67. Reforming and Reinforcing the Revolution: The Post-TRIPS Politics of Patents in Latin America

Author:
Kenneth Shadlen
Publication Date:
04-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
Abstract:
National policies toward intellectual property (IP) were revolutionized in the 1990s, as countries adopted new systems to conform to the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). TRIPS-style IP regimes make patents available for more types of knowledge, grant long periods of patent protection, and endow patent owners with strong rights of exclusion. This paper analyzes two contrasting patterns of political mobilization and pressures for change that newly-introduced, TRIPS-style regimes became subject to by the early 21st Century. Most governments faced pressures to address aspects of their IP systems regarding pharmaceutical patents; governments came under pressure to reform their new patent systems, calling into question the appropriateness and utility of broad and strong private rights of exclusion as tools for disseminating knowledge. Most governments also faced pressures to modify aspects of their patent systems more broadly related to science, technology, and indigenous innovation (STI); governments came under pressure to reinforce their new patent systems, buttressing the role of private rights of exclusion as mechanisms to incentivize the creation and distribution of knowledge and technology. I provide a political explanation for the contrasting trajectories of reform and reinforcement by examining how different policy arrangements generate and mobilize interests for continuity and discontinuity. The focus is on asymmetric patterns of interest mobilization: those actors who benefit from policy interventions tend to mobilize more than those who suffer; those actors who suffer retain the capacities for mobilization and resistance more in the area of health-drugs than STI.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Political Economy, and Intellectual Property/Copyright
Political Geography:
Latin America

68. Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right of Access to Information

Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
We, over 125 members of the global access to information community from 40 countries, representing governments, civil society organizations, international bodies and financial institutions, donor agencies and foundations, private sector companies, media outlets and scholars, gathered in Atlanta, Georgia from February 27-29, 2008, under the auspices of the Carter Center and hereby adopt the following Declaration and Plan of Action to advance the passage, implementation, enforcement, and exercise of the right of access to information:
Topic:
Civil Society, Intelligence, Treaties and Agreements, and Intellectual Property/Copyright
Political Geography:
Georgia

69. All costs, no benefits: How TRIPS-plus intellectual property rules in the US-Jordan FTA affect access to medicines

Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Since enactment of the TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement in 1995, the USA has imposed progressively higher levels of intellectual property protection (TRIPS-plus rules) on developing countries, which undermines access to affordable medicines. The US-Jordan free trade agreement (FTA) introduced a rigid framework of TRIPS-plus rules that the USA continues to impose on developing countries, although subsequent FTAs have even stricter levels of intellectual property (IP) protection. Jordan was also required to increase the level of IP protection under the terms of its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Topic:
Health, Treaties and Agreements, World Trade Organization, and Intellectual Property/Copyright
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, and Jordan

70. Analysis of International Patent Protection and Global Public Health

Author:
Victoria E. Hopkins
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:
School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:
The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), governed by the World Trade Organization, provides for stringent patent protection in the name of intellectual property rights. This international agreement has elicited public health concerns in developing countries, worried that they will be unable to access essential medicines as a result of increasing patented drug costs. This paper confi rms legitimate attempts to promote global public health and, more specifi cally, ready access to medicines through ‘fl exibilities’ including compulsory licensing and parallel importation, outlined in TRIPS, and reaffi rmed in the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. However, it is determined that, in practice, barriers exist which erode or have the potential to erode the implementation of these fl exibilities in developing countries. These include a lack of local production capabilities and technological know-how, lack of economies of scale, needed legislative reform, and pressure from TRIPS-plus bi-lateral and regional agreements. Policy recommendations highlight the need for developing countries to cooperate on regional levels, developed countries to focus foreign aid strategies on building capacity, and for non-state institutions to create more proactive policies to assist implementation and information sharing amongst developing countries.
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements, Intellectual Property/Copyright, Trade, Public Health, and Patents
Political Geography:
Global Focus