Global Dimensions of Intellectual Property Rights in Science and Technology (1993) / Chapter Skim
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3 Why a Uniform Intellectual Property System Makes Sense or the World
3 Why a Uniform Intellectual Property System Makes Sense or the World
Pages 68-88
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From page 68... ...
Identical national systems would require a uniformity beyond that needed to achieve the beneficial effects of a uniform system. The diversity of jurisprudential concepts and legal systems found throughout the world implies something short of identical national intellectual property 68
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From page 69... ...
Only as a system rises above a 70 will it produce positive results for that country. Those results can be measured in terms of three critical things that begin to happen: private venture capital firms become willing to invest
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From page 70... ...
Another way to look for a uniform, high-stimulation system would be to ask whether, in fact, the general reflex of the business culture of each country is to respect invention, technical knowledge, or creative expression as the property of those who create it, rather than to operate on the assumption that it is open to copying and imitation. A uniform world intellectual property system would further mean that each national system is comprehensive and would have three distinct elements.
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From page 71... ...
Data that would be relevant are often not kept in developing countries. For example, data on amounts spent by local firms on research are often not available or, if tax laws offer credits for such expenditures, they may be distorted.
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From page 72... ...
As a general comment on research methodology it may be suggested that in seeking evidence, the greatest reward will probably come from getting close to those in developing countries who are involved in the creation and transfer of technology or in free riding. Yet a methodological difficulty that has been encountered is that even local businessmen who have a good deal at stake in terms of their ability to protect innovation, have little idea of what intellectual property is or does.
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From page 73... ...
The effort has been to talk with people who have a direct stake in the local intellectual property system. More than 200 interviews were conducted, mainly with local businessmen, but also with university researchers, venture capital firm owners, ranchers, research park directors, state enterprise officials, and then, to help in formulating reflections, with local academic economists.2 Among the businessmen, there was, as noted, considerable lack of understanding about what intellectual property is and does.
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From page 74... ...
Normally, private funds will not be invested in research, other than as an act of charity, if the expected results cannot be appropriated through the application of the tools of intellectual property. Within research parks, investigators who are brought together to stimulate each other's thinking, are instead wary of sharing proprietary technical knowledge for fear it will be misappropriated by others at the center.
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From page 75... ...
On the other hand, the damage to a country's technological infrastructure that arises from a free-rider strategy has been little thought about, much less measured. , "7~ -- c7 rip I -- ~r~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ The opportunities to conduct local research, train local technicians and researchers, attract local venture capital to the development of promising new technology, support the movement of research results from university laboratories to the marketplace, and find greater outlets for research results produced in state enterprises are among the opportun~t~es lost to a country.
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From page 76... ...
Does it mean a country falls further behind as technology becomes more complex and advances with increasing speed or does free riding accelerate the catchup process as all countries move forward? These questions deserve more attention.
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From page 77... ...
These returning researchers, however, have experienced the ways in which the high-stimulation system of the United States shapes the infrastructure of technology advance. They see industry conducting serious internal research and working in close association with universities things that are unlikely to happen in the absence of such a system.
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From page 78... ...
Several interviews with government and private observers point to this possibility already. A different kind of example, again from Brazil, illustrates the damage being done to the technological infrastructure because the intellectual property system there is weak, particularly in regard to trade secrets.
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From page 79... ...
Intellectual property is both a stimulus to research and an aid in conducting valuable technology from place to place. To the extent that research can be conducted through international networks, joint research programs, and shared facilities, the role of intellectual property protection is becoming more pronounced at the global level.
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From page 80... ...
As a uniform intellectual property system comes into place around the world, we can expect not only higher-quality technology transfers, but also a greater willingness to conduct joint research from transnational platforms. The sharing of technical knowledge within a protective environment will have far-reaching consequences for those conducting research in all partici .
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From page 81... ...
Dominance It is argued that strong intellectual property protection helps multinational companies dominate a market and kill infant industries. Stated in these terms, this assertion has emotional appeal, of course, but does not describe accurately the dynamics of technological competition.
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From page 82... ...
We can see increasing instances in which companies in developing countries rise up to challenge companies in developed countries. Countries with strong intellectual property systems aid their companies in this global technological competition.
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From page 83... ...
Competitiveness is not likely to be improved by weak systems of protection, especially since a weak intellectual property system may be undermining local impulses to innovate. Prowess First, Then Protection It is asserted by some Brazilians that Brazil deserves to have a strong intellectual property system, but only once it achieves world-class stature in research.
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From page 84... ...
Today, resistance often comes from a dislike of being pressured by the United States rather than from any deep sense that reform is ultimately wrong. It appears that as countries shift from command economies to marketdriven economies there is a correlative shift from weak to strong intellectual property protection.
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From page 85... ...
The patent office is typically the most costly element of a national intellectual property system. Yet patent offices generate significant revenue, including foreign exchange (through fees)
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From page 86... ...
The Patent Cooperation Treaty gives a workable basis for linking many patent offices so that costly duplication of effort can be eliminated. The treaty could be undergirded by an international computer network using satellite connections.
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From page 87... ...
On balance, any benefits that can be ascribed to free riding are more than offset by the damage that a country's technological infrastructure sustains for lack of intellectual property protection that works well. In view of the prospective benefits to be gained by countries in development, a uniform intellectual property system makes sense for the world (see Table 3-11.
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From page 88... ...
In Intellectual Property Rights and Capital Formation in the Next Decade, Charts E Walker and Mark A
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