Publication: Intellectual Property Rights and Knowledge Sharing Across Countries
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2009
ISSN
1367-3270
Published
2009
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to integrate the empirical and game theoretical approaches to address the strategic interactions among countries in choosing their optimal levels of intellectual property rights (IPRs), and to identify how these countries can reach an efficient and equitable equilibrium. Design/methodology/approach - Because countries' decisions on which IPR standards and protections to implement are interrelated, the authors apply game theory to characterize the scenarios before and after the 1994 Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) involving developed and developing countries. Findings - The model shows that the pre-TRIPS equilibrium is comprised of high-income (H-I) developed countries which choose a strong IPR protection while the middle-income (M-I) and low-income (L-I) developing countries choose a weak IPR standard. For countries to move from such an equilibrium to the uniformly strong IPR regime under TRIPS, it is necessary for the H-I countries to compensate L-I and M-I countries that do not have the sufficient conditions to attract knowledge/technology transfer This compensation covers IPR protection implementation costs and increased royalties for patents. Research limitations/implications - The model proposed in this study is not complex. In reality, the payoff functions can have more variables and parameters, which, however, may also complicate the model and lower its generalizability, Originality/value - The study explains that it is difficult for countries to reach an efficient and equitable equilibrium without the subsidies and side-payments from the developed countries to the developing countries. It builds an important bridge between the game theoretical approach and the empirical studies of TRIPS, which can be further enriched and tested. It acknowledges that it is more likely for stronger IPR standards (as in TRIPS) to be implemented than an open source approach.
Link to Data Set
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Citations
- Cited 14 times in Scopus (view citations)
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Indigenous Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2000-04)The note emphasizes the critical importance of documenting indigenous knowledge in writing, which can then be used to challenge a patent claim on knowledge that is already in the public domain. It also highlights the usefulness of other forms of intellectual property rights, other than patents, such as geographical indicators. These may be of more use to indigenous communities seeking to regulate access over their resources, as they can be applied to knowledge that evolves over time, and with the input of the local community at large. This leads us to the possibility of widening the Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), to ensure that patents disclose the origin of genetic resources, and use of indigenous knowledge, and, consider sui generis forms of intellectual property, such as community based rights, to secure equitable benefit sharing.Publication Poor People's Knowledge : Promoting Intellectual Property in Developing Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003)This book aims to expand the international discourse by: Calling attention to a broader range of knowledge that has commercial potential in developing countries. Bringing an economic dimension into the discussion of traditional knowledge, where legal analysis has thus far been at the forefront. Bringing out the incentives for and concerns of poor people-which may be different from those of corporate research, Northern nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or already successful entertainment stars. Demonstrating that the best answer is sometimes a commercial one, for example, providing musicians basic training in small business management or reform of regulations that burden small businesses, rather than obtaining formal patent or copyright protection. Calling attention to the many income-earning (rather than the income-using) dimensions of culture-to dispel the notion that culture and commerce are necessarily in opposition. Bringing out instances in which more or less standard legal approaches have been effective as an antidote to the general sense of conflict between traditional knowledge and normal legal conceptions so as to identify the problems in which legal innovation-beyond diligent application-is really needed. Imbuing into the discourse a sense of the legal and commercial tasks needed to solve a developmental problem-away from "knowledge" as an isolated legal issue.Publication Promoting Intellectual Property Monetization in Developing Countries : A Review of Issues and Strategies to Support Knowledge-driven Growth(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-07)This paper outlines and evaluates several intellectual property monetization strategies available to patent holders in developing countries that help generate domestic innovation and knowledge-driven growth by promoting more active technology markets. Based on a review of World Intellectual Property Report indicators, the patent ownership gap between a sample of developed and developing countries has narrowed gradually for more technologically-sophisticated developing countries. However, based on complementary International Monetary Fund Balance of Payments data, the patent commercialization divide (as indicated by licensing income) has been widening. The paper argues that patents, and all forms of intellectual property, are an enabling mechanism rather than a defensive right: an intangible asset class that can be proactively nurtured and managed for greater value extraction to stimulate knowledge-based entrepreneurship and growth in developing countries. The paper presents multiple case studies of alternative monetization strategies to address the commercialization divide. These strategies range from private, market-driven options to those requiring a greater amount of public policy support: from patent securitization and patent exchanges (focusing on the United States-initiated Intellectual Property Exchange International and the Shanghai Silicon Intellectual Property Exchange), to the strengthening of technology transfer and commercialization infrastructure (focusing on the experience of the Association of University Technology Managers and Taiwan, China's Intellectual Property Rights Institute), to patent litigation support (including South Korea's support of patent infringement lawsuit costs for small and medium enterprises). The paper also highlights areas where further policy research would be helpful.Publication Intellectual Property Rights for Plant Breeding and Rural Development : Challenges for Agricultural Policymakers(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-06)Although many developing countries have drafted legislation to address plant variety protection (PVP) requirements, relatively few have begun to implement PVP, and little guidance is available on appropriate strategies. This note looks at some of the key decisions facing agricultural policymakers in establishing a PVP regime, examines the implementation of PVP, assesses some of the impacts and limitations of PVP regimes, and identifies policy priorities that complement the establishment of IPRs for plant breeding.Publication Improving Access to HIV/AIDS Medicines in Africa : Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Flexibilities(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010-04-20)The study begins with an overview of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement and its flexibilities, delineating the legal requirements of the TRIPS agreement regarding their use. It then examines the challenges entailed in the beneficial interpretation and implementation of the TRIPS agreement at both the national and regional levels under the auspices of African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI). The next section reviews the domestic antiretroviral (ARV) production experiences of Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana with an eye for evaluating the option of sustainable local production. The study is based on existing literature and on interaction with various key players and resource persons in government institutions, the private sector, and civil society groups, especially nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) at the national level. Information was gathered from officials of the regional patent institutions, OAPI and ARIPO, along with official documents of these institutions. International organizations involved in HIV/AIDS work in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) also provided input. The study was conducted under considerable time and logistical constraints, making it difficult to meet and interview all the persons that the authors wished to consult during travel across the African continent. Another limitation was the lack of an easily accessible database on ARVs and other HIV/AIDS medicines being used in Africa, their patent status, and their relative prices. National drug procurement bodies were often reluctant to divulge information on prices and quantities of medicines obtained.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
No results found.