Global Dimensions of Intellectual Property Rights in Science and Technology (1993) / Chapter Skim
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6 Comparative National Approaches to Intellectual Property Rights
6 Comparative National Approaches to Intellectual Property Rights
Pages 155-174
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From page 155... ...
We saw a vigorous week of Japan bashing in December 1991 during the fiftieth anniversary of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese patent system is also a source of controversy, considered by its outspoken American critics as a nontariff trade barrier.
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From page 156... ...
International communism collapsed as a result. The Japanese are presently attempting to file patent applications in the Japanese Patent Office electronically.
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From page 157... ...
They have created a situation in which Japanese patent attorneys have had to purchase much to the profit of Toshiba and others some very expensive equipment. They must send a floppy to the Japanese Patent Office, together with the electronic transmission, so the system cannot be called truly "paperless." On the other hand, because of this electronic feed, the Japanese Patent Office is building one of the most marvelous technical data bases that one can imagine.
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From page 158... ...
The problems are · whether there is an intrinsic merit in harmonizing intellectual property rights or whether, on the contrary, individual states should be left to pursue what they see as the most advantageous ways of protecting those rights;
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From page 159... ...
Since European Community intellectual property measures are subject to the economic objectives of the common market, they have to meet the requirements of the EEC treaty on at least two points: the provisions on the free movement of goods and services, and the provisions on competition or antitrust. The judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Communities on intellectual property rights are almost entirely concerned with the problems of reconciling these rights with the provisions of the EEC treaty.
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From page 160... ...
This is a salutary reminder that the concerns of intellectual property experts are in the last event always subordinate to the political process and that legislation on intellectual property is ultimately determined by political considerations. To some extent this is illustrated by developments in copyright legislation in the European Community.
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From page 161... ...
As for the extrinsic importance of intellectual property rights, more work needs to be done within the European Community to define not only the relationship between the monopoly inherent in those rights and the rules against monopoly abuse, but also the relationship between the economic interests of intellectual property owners and those of intellectual property users. From time to time the Commission of the European Communities and the European Parliament conduct hearings into intellectual property matters, and a letter published recently in the London Times commented on the fact that invitations were not being extended to consumers or to licensees and other commercial users of intellectual property.
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From page 162... ...
Third, the relevance of the Indian view from the perspective of developing countries is considered. In conclusion, I would like to situate the discussion in the context of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, where India and the United States have been major participants in the debate on a possible international regime for the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
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From page 163... ...
For chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food products, the patent law in India permits patentability of processes alone, not of products. The rights conferred by a patent in India are very similar, though not identical, to those of the industrialized countries.
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From page 164... ...
The provisions are, of course, subject to the payment of a royalty to the patent holder. In the United States and other industrialized countries, provisions for compulsory licensing and government use are limited to established violations of antitrust laws and public noncommercial purposes, although the practice in some sectors (e.g., in space research)
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From page 165... ...
Thus, an economy that industrializes should be able to move from importation through absorption and adaptation of technology through to the stage of innovation, at least in some sectors, on the path to sustained industrialization. In the pursuit of this objective, late industrializers in Europe, Asia, and Latin America have sought to facilitate their technological transformation through intellectual property rights systems that are, or were, conducive to catching up with the industrialized countries.
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From page 166... ...
This has led countries that are technology leaders and technology exporters to seek a major change in the international regime for patent protection to include new products and processes particularly in the sphere of biotechnology, for copyrights to include computer software and informatics, and for strengthening related aspects of the system to protect intellectual property rights extending as far as trade secrets. The underlying logic is that technical progress in many of these sectors is more susceptible to replication, which may erode the rewards for innovators.
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From page 167... ...
It is essential to ensure rewards for innovators, but surely the protection of monopoly profits or quasi rents for transnational corporations should not take precedence over the interests of consumers in a world characterized by uneven development. It would seem that the proposed agreement on Trade
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From page 168... ...
The Newly Industrializing Economies CARLOS ALBERTO PRIMO BRAGA The objective of this section is to provide a brief survey of the current status of intellectual property right (IPR) systems in newly industrializing economies (NTES)
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From page 169... ...
It is worth mentioning that a country could, for instance, have a "good" patent law and yet be considered a "problem country" either because of inadequate enforcement of its patent law or because some other aspect of the IPR system (e.g., copyright law or trade secrets) was considered inadequate.
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From page 170... ...
The objective of this revision was "to weaken the international standards of industrial property protection" (Kunz-Hallstein, 1989:269~. Unable to accomplish this objective, developing countries reacted strongly to attempts to introduce Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights in the GATT negotiations.4 Yet, an analysis of the evolution of IPR systems over the last five years shows a clear trend toward higher levels of protection in the developing world.
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From page 171... ...
Among the Asian NIES-which, in general, already had higher levels of protection than the Latin American NTES by the mid-1980s the last few years have also been characterized by additional reforms designed to strengthen IPR protection: (1) Singapore enacted a new Copyright Act in 1987, expanding its scope and significantly increasing penalties for infringement.
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From page 172... ...
The recognition that all NIES have strengthened IPR protection since 1986 leads us to the next question: What forces have fostered these changes? THE FORCES BEHIND IPR REFORMS IN THE NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZING ECONOMIES Some analysts, including myself (Primo Braga, 1989, 1990b)
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From page 173... ...
The potential anticompetitive implications of the reforms, however, should not be forgotten.~° For those involved in research focusing on the economic role of science and technology in the developing world, the NIES provide fertile ground for empirical analyses of the net welfare effects of strengthening IPR protection. Finally, it is important to acknowledge the significant progress achieved in the TRIPS negotiations, as reflected in the draft final act of the Uruguay Round, presented by the GATT Secretariat in December 1991.
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From page 174... ...
1992. The simple arithmetic of existing multilateral trading arrangements and implications for a post-Uruguay Round world.
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