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The free exchange of microbial genetic information is an
established public good, facilitating research on medicines,
agriculture, and climate change. However, over the past
quarter-century, access to genetic resources has been hindered by
intellectual property claims from developed countries under the
World Trade Organization's TRIPS Agreement (1994) and by claims of
sovereign rights from developing countries under the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) (1992). In this volume, the authors
examine the scientific community's responses to these obstacles and
advise policymakers on how to harness provisions of the Nagoya
Protocol (2010) that allow multilateral measures to support
research. By pooling microbial materials, data, and literature in a
carefully designed transnational e-infrastructure, the scientific
community can facilitate access to essential research assets while
simultaneously reinforcing the open access movement. The original
empirical surveys of responses to the CBD included here provide a
valuable addition to the literature on governing scientific
knowledge commons.
The free exchange of microbial genetic information is an
established public good, facilitating research on medicines,
agriculture, and climate change. However, over the past
quarter-century, access to genetic resources has been hindered by
intellectual property claims from developed countries under the
World Trade Organization's TRIPS Agreement (1994) and by claims of
sovereign rights from developing countries under the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) (1992). In this volume, the authors
examine the scientific community's responses to these obstacles and
advise policymakers on how to harness provisions of the Nagoya
Protocol (2010) that allow multilateral measures to support
research. By pooling microbial materials, data, and literature in a
carefully designed transnational e-infrastructure, the scientific
community can facilitate access to essential research assets while
simultaneously reinforcing the open access movement. The original
empirical surveys of responses to the CBD included here provide a
valuable addition to the literature on governing scientific
knowledge commons.
In recent years, Intellectual Property Rights - both in the form of
patents and copyrights - have expanded in their coverage, the
breadth and depth of protection, and the tightness of their
enforcement. Moreover, for the first time in history, the IPR
regime has become increasingly uniform at international level by
means of the TRIPS agreement, irrespectively of the degrees of
development of the various countries. This volume, first, addresses
from different angles the effects of IPR on the processes of
innovation and innovation diffusion in general, and with respect to
developing countries in particular. Contrary to a widespread view,
there is very little evidence that the rates of innovation increase
with the tightness of IPR even in developed countries. Conversely,
in many circumstances, tight IPR represents an obstacle to
imitation and innovation diffusion in developing countries. What
can policies do then? This is the second major theme of the book
which offers several detailed discussions of possible policy
measures even within the current TRIPS regime - including the
exploitation of the waivers to IPR enforcement that it contains,
various forms of development of 'technological commons', and
non-patent rewards to innovators, such as prizes. Some drawbacks of
the regimes, however, are unavoidable: hence the advocacy in many
contributions to the book of deep reforms of the system in both
developed and developing countries, including the non-patentability
of scientific discoveries, the reduction of the depth and breadth
of IPR patents, and the variability of the degrees of IPR
protection according to the levels of a country's development.
"The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for
Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print
Disabled" is a watershed development in the fields of intellectual
property and human rights. As the first international legal
instrument to establish mandatory exceptions to copyright, the
Marrakesh Treaty uses the legal and policy tools of copyright to
advance human rights. The World Blind Union Guide to the Marrakesh
Treaty offers a comprehensive framework for interpreting the Treaty
in ways that enhance the ability of print-disabled individuals to
create, read, and share books and cultural materials in accessible
formats. The Guide also provides specific recommendations to
government officials, policymakers, and disability rights
organizations involved with implementing the Treaty's provisions in
national law.
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