IP rights
This page is under construction and edited by Ruth Donners EMBA09. In case of any questions/remarks, feel free to contact me
Description:
This driving force relates to the IP rights in the world. Intellectual Property Rights are commonly arranged on national level. This driving force is now only written directed to patents, but also other IP rights, such as copyright, trademarks etc. could be discussed under this heading. In view of the scenario-project for which this driving force is established (ie The Future of R&D in Pharmaceutical Industry in 2025), only patent rights are now further elucidated.
There are some treaties to which more countries or regions have acceded, like the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT - 184 member states) of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which is a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN). The PCT treaty provides patent applicants the opportunity to postpone the moment to choose in which territories one will file a national patent and therefore costs involved therein. It does not lead to patent rights in the contracting states, but stays in the patent application phase.
In addition there are also regional patent treaties, such as the European Patent Convention (EPC - 36 contracting states [4]), Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC - 9 member states), and African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO - 16 member states [6]) etc. Although these treaties will lead to a patent, the patents granted by these treaties will become national patents and treated in each member state differently. Within the European Union there is ample discussion about establishing a new system called the Community Patent, whereby a patent applicant would get one patent for the whole of the European Union. This system would then make the system not only cheaper but also more transparant and more consistent in scope of protection. Currently with the EPC there are still differences in court outcomes on for example patent infringement lawsuits in different EPC Member States. The Community Patent would make an end to that.
Enablers:
- Desire to make the patent system more transparent
- Desire to make the patent system more affordable but still offer the protection that guarantees investment in innovation
- Increasing globalization
- Increasing Power of the United Nations
Inhibitors:
- Lobbying by activist groups against intellectual property rights, including patent rights, ie. non-governmental organisations, free-ware fans etc
- Anti-globalism
- Local governments not willing to release national autonomy over IP rights.
- Protectionism
Paradigms:
Someone who has done an invention and shares this with the world should be rewarded. In patent rights, the inventor is seen to be rewarded by the right to a temporary monopoly, during which the investments made in the invention can be earned back. In copyright, similarly, the author can earn money for the work done. Intellectual property rights can make intangible assets definable and transferable.
Experts:
- The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
- Regional patent offices, eg. the European Patent Office (EPO)
- National Patent Offices, eg. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
- Judges of patent courts
- Patent Attorneys
- Intellectual Asset Managers
Timing:
The following dates for key milestones in the development of the driving force can be observed:
- 1883 the birth of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the first major international treaty designed to help the people of one country obtain protection in other countries for their intellectual creations in the form of industrial property rights, known as:
- inventions (patents)
- trademarks
- industrial designs
- 1967 Establishment of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
- 1970 Establishment of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
- 1975 Start of discussion on Community Patent (and its faillure to ratify)
- 1976 Establishment of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (after a request of WIPO and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA))
- 1977 Establishment of the European Patent Convention (EPC): also thereby harmonising national patent rights in the member states
As can be seen the developments are ongoing, but meanwhile in the technology field a revolution has taken place: with the uprising of information and communication technology (ICT) and biotechnology (eg. genetic sequencing) the debate regarding the appropriateness of the patent system has become fiercer.