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Intellectual property in global governance: A development question
Abstract
Intellectual Property in Global Governance critically examines the evolution of international intellectual property law-making from the build up to the TRIPS Agreement, through the TRIPS and post-TRIPS era. The book focuses on a number of thematic intellectual property issue linkages, exploring the formal and informal institutional interactions and multi-stakeholder holder intrigues implicated in the global governance of intellectual property. Using examples from bio-technology, bio-diversity, bio-prospecting and bio-piracy it investigates the shift or concentration in the focus of innovation from physical to life sciences and the ensuing changes in international intellectual property law making and their implications for intellectual property jurisprudence. It examines the character of the reception, resistance and various nuanced reactions to the changes brought about by the TRIPS Agreement, exploring the various institutional sites and patterns of such responses, as well as the escalation in the issue-linkages associated with the concept and impact of intellectual property law.
... Traditional knowledge has received a great deal of attention of late in a diverse range of international fora. It is fair to say that interest in TK as a subject for international law has risen to its current prominence in the context of the exploitation of TK of plant genetic resources by western multinational companies, including those in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries (Oguamanam, 2011). Thus, although the definitions of TK are much broader than knowledge of plant genetic resources, it is this one lucrative and widely exploited subset of Developments in the theory anD practice of cybercartography, seconD eDition, 2014, 279-295 TK that has dominated the development of international law. ...
... This has been done through the Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising out of their Utilization (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2002) and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2011a,b). The goal of ABS regimes is to develop a framework to compensate appropriately those communities that are the source of information that leads to lucrative innovation (Oguamanam, 2011). ...
... IP legislation is the primary means by which the fruits of innovative and creative activity are rewarded. These systemspredominantly patent, copyright, and trademark law -are based upon entrenched western notions of innovation and creativity (Oguamanam, 2011). These IP norms have achieved global pre-eminence through two centuries of international treaty-making, culminating in the bi-and multilateral international trade treaties that dominate our era. ...
... Other notable works approaching knowledge governance as a global norm-setting phenomenon include, but are not limited to, those by Okediji (2003), Yu (2004), Chon (2011), May (2010 and Oguamanam (2011). For example, Oguamanam (2011) conceives of knowledge governance in relation to plant genetic resources as being a product of, inter alia, the "regime complexity" and "hegemonic agenda" produced by the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) and TRIPS international IP norm-setting instruments (2011, pp. ...
... Other notable works approaching knowledge governance as a global norm-setting phenomenon include, but are not limited to, those by Okediji (2003), Yu (2004), Chon (2011), May (2010 and Oguamanam (2011). For example, Oguamanam (2011) conceives of knowledge governance in relation to plant genetic resources as being a product of, inter alia, the "regime complexity" and "hegemonic agenda" produced by the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) and TRIPS international IP norm-setting instruments (2011, pp. 116-117). ...
Through examining conceptions of the interface between development and knowledge, and conceptions of the notion of knowledge governance, this article provides a conceptual framing for the items published in this AJIC “knowledge governance for development” thematic issue.
... As such, the term captures a range of knowledge that forms part of a broader system. As Oguamanam (2011) notes, traditional knowledge 'constitutes an aspect of ecological management and environmental stewardship, sustainable development, economic empowerment, self-determination, human rights, property rights, culture, arts, craft, music, songs, dance and diverse creative repertoire; religion, lifestyle and innumerable aspects of social processes that undergird a people's overall worldview' (p. 146). ...
... Further, the concept of the public domain may not be appropriate to some forms of knowledge or to sacred symbols or other objects (Coombe, 2005). As Oguamanam (2011) notes, traditional knowledge is part of an alternative knowledge framework which does not share the same premises as Western IP regimes. Coombe (2005) cautions that the protection of indigenous knowledge is not simply a matter of finding a way in which to extend IP protection, as 'it is more fundamentally tied to the marginalization, exploitation, and operation of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional life styles and the failure to recognize their basic rights as human peoples' (p. ...
Digital cartography offers exciting opportunities for recording indigenous knowledge, particularly in contexts where a people's relationship to the land has high cultural significance. Canada's north offers a useful case study of both the opportunities and challenges of such projects. Through the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre (GCRC), Inuit peoples have been invited to become partners in innovative digital mapping projects, including creating atlases of traditional place names, recording the patterns and movement of sea ice, and recording previously uncharted and often shifting traditional routes over ice and tundra. Such projects have generated interest in local communities because of their potential to record and preserve traditional knowledge and because they offer an attractive visual and multimedia interface that can address linguistic and cultural concerns. But given corporations' growing interest in the natural resources of the Arctic and the concomitant rise in government concern about claims to Arctic sovereignty, such maps may also be of interest to a broad range of actors and for a variety of purposes. Because these projects rely heavily upon, and record, oral knowledge, and because they convert such knowledge into highly malleable and easily disseminated digital content, they raise challenging issues around informed consent, intellectual and cultural property, and privacy. This article identifies and examines these issues and describes the collaborative and interdisciplinary research established to identify and address the use of traditional knowledge in digital cartography.
... Recognizing each industry's unique characteristics, we integrate insights from institutional theory (Lawrence & Shadnam, 2008) into our framework, which allows us to delve into the industry-specific factors shaping knowledge exchange and collaboration dynamics. Formal and informal institutions, such as regulatory frameworks, intellectual property regimes, and industry norms, significantly influence how knowledge is shared and collaboration unfolds within these ecosystems (Oguamanam, 2013). ...
This comprehensive study investigates the intricate dynamics of knowledge flows and collaboration within the innovation ecosystem of the United Kingdom, employing a concurrent embedded design that integrates qualitative and quantitative methods. By examining facilitators, impediments, and industry-specific influences, the research provides nuanced insights into the multifaceted nature of innovation ecosystems. Triangulating qualitative and quantitative findings, the study reveals the critical roles of trust, effective communication, and network density in fostering knowledge exchange. Exploration of diverse collaboration forms, from formal partnerships to mentorship programs, underscores their prevalence and impact on innovation outcomes. The study advances existing literature by offering a cross-industry perspective, introducing a novel theoretical framework, and providing empirically grounded recommendations for cultivating more effective and impactful innovation ecosystems. While acknowledging certain limitations, such as the focus on a specific geographical context, the study significantly contributes to our understanding of these dynamic environments, offering a foundation for future research and practical guidance for stakeholders involved in fostering innovation.
... 241 There has been ongoing debate in international respect of intellectual property. 249 As Jeffrey Sachs notes, 'Good governance will play a central role in the eventual success or failure of the SDGs.' 250 A variety of international institutions have jurisdiction over matters of international intellectual property -including WIPO, WTO, WHO and the United Nations Development Programme, among others. In Chapter 21, Faith O. Majekolagbe provides a critical evaluation of the role of the World Intellectual Property Organization in the UN Sustainable Development Agenda. ...
... Therefore, WIPO, a specialized agency of the United Nations, plays a vital role in the worldwide platform in fostering the education of intellectual property laws in academic institutions (Alikhan & Mashelkar, 2009). It also founded the WIPO World Wide Academy (WWA) to serve as an educational establishment promoting IP education, development, comprehensive instruction, and regulatory mentoring (Oguamanam, 2016). ...
The study aimed to determine the level of students’ awareness regarding intellectual property rights at one state university in the Philippines. This study used the descriptive research method, employing the online instrument distributed to the 506 students from different colleges. The study used a modified adapted survey questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used such percent, mean, frequency count, and inferential data using the Kruskal Wallis H-Test. The study revealed that the respondents were aware of the aspects of copyrights, patents, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications. However, the respondents were neither aware nor unaware on the aspects of the utility model. Moreover, the study revealed significant difference in the level of students’ awareness when grouped according to different IP rights. Therefore, full awareness on the intellectual property rights is vital as there are implications on the protected materials, works and inventions that may lead to infringement for its improper use. Hence, to maintain the level of awareness of students regarding intellectual property rights, it is recommended that the university adopt tactics and resources for wide dissemination, such as an intellectual property rights manual, to enhance the knowledge of its students.
... It is estimated that over 75% of global biological resources are found in the Global South and in traditional or ancestral habitats utilized by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC). See, for example, Oguamanam (2013). 1 According to a recent study, 2 it was found that the world has lost over 90% of large fish species. ...
As India moves ahead in the twenty-first century to be a global player, it must take a balanced and inclusive approach. Marginalized and vulnerable tribal communities make approximately 10% of the massive population, playing a dynamic role in this regard. Their ancestral knowledge can be explored to inculcate the ethos in multiple disciplines. This would most certainly bring the much-needed balance in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Where the world is fast losing its natural resources, promoting traditional knowledge (TK) could become an initiative for its reconstruction in post-COVID 19 scenarios. Apart from reinstating the rights of these indigenous communities, this step would also facilitate the economic benefit of the country through the incorporation of TK in the realm of Intellectual Property. This would be a masterstroke for India to lead the Global South. This would also bring in a balance with the Global North, where significant developments have already taken place, in this regard. TK per se should not necessarily be protectable unless based on scientific evidence.
... Developing countries are net exporters of weakly protected traditional knowledge and related genetic resources (GRs), whereas they are usually net importers of other, strongly protected forms of IP, like patents and copyrights, covering pharmaceuticals, software and industrial processes, for example. As a result, these states often call for stronger protection for GRs and traditional knowledge, while supporting weaker controls in other areas of IP (Oguamanam 2012). By contrast the United States and the European Union have resisted recognition of rights over traditional knowledge that would be enforceable through the WTO system. ...
This article investigates the justifications for Kenya's pioneering 2016 legislation to protect the interests of communities in their traditional knowledge. Drawing on parliamentary, governmental and media sources, it argues that law reform was underpinned by political concerns about the exploitation of valuable resources by foreign concerns. This problematization of traditional knowledge in terms of national sovereignty and development defines the scope of the legislation and leads to a number of important shortcomings and contradictions. It puts the nation state at the heart of the legal regime, limiting enforcement to the national territory and giving authorities ultimate the power to override community decisions. While the legislation should be adjusted to address these issues, we also suggest that communities should pursue non-legal alternatives, including the encouragement of ethical commercial conduct through media campaigns and licensing agreements.
... Nevertheless, this discourse perpetuates a colonial view of global North-South relations, as bioprospecting (the export of plant material from the global South to the global North) originated in this era. Exports of genetic material contributed to fuel further colonial and economic expansion, leading to the redefinition of bioprospecting as biopiracy (ibid.; see also Shiva, 1997;Parry, 2004;Robinson, 2010;Oguamanam, 2012). The CBD's objective of benefit-sharing seeks to create fairness within these exchanges, but nevertheless reproduces the same general model, which leads to the imposition of this approach in too uniform a manner. ...
... Nevertheless, this discourse perpetuates a colonial view of global North-South relations, as bioprospecting (the export of plant material from the global South to the global North) originated in this era. Exports of genetic material contributed to fuel further colonial and economic expansion, leading to the redefinition of bioprospecting as biopiracy (ibid.; see also Shiva, 1997;Parry, 2004;Robinson, 2010;Oguamanam, 2012). The CBD's objective of benefit-sharing seeks to create fairness within these exchanges, but nevertheless reproduces the same general model, which leads to the imposition of this approach in too uniform a manner. ...
... Nevertheless, this discourse perpetuates a colonial view of global North-South relations, as bioprospecting (the export of plant material from the global South to the global North) originated in this era. Exports of genetic material contributed to fuel further colonial and economic expansion, leading to the redefinition of bioprospecting as biopiracy (ibid.; see also Shiva, 1997;Parry, 2004;Robinson, 2010;Oguamanam, 2012). The CBD's objective of benefit-sharing seeks to create fairness within these exchanges, but nevertheless reproduces the same general model, which leads to the imposition of this approach in too uniform a manner. ...
... Coupled with this denigration of the intellectual value of IPLCs' TK and TCEsamidst compelling evidence to the contrary 6 -were, and are, assertions from rich, industrialised nations that many of the GRs and indeed broader biological resources 5 It is estimated that over 75% of global biological resources are found in the Global South and/or in traditional or ancestral habitats utilised by IPLCs. See, for example, Oguamanam (2012). 6 The first symmetric stone tools were invented in Africa. ...
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has, for nearly two decades, engaged in formulating the nature and content of a text-based legal instrument or instruments for the effective protection of genetic resources (GRs), traditional knowledge (TK), and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs, also known as folklore) within or relating to the international intellectual property (IP) system. This task has been the job of WIPO's Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), established in 2000. In this article, I explore the context and rationales for, and evolution of, one of the IGC's evolving contributions: development of a tiered or differentiated approach to the protection of TK and TCEs. The article discusses and analyses the empirical ramifications and challenges of the tiered approach-alternatively referred to as differentiated approach-with reference to examples of forms of TK and TCE in Africa, North America and Australia. I conclude that the approach is a work in progress, still evolving, which provides a useful broad policy framework at the international level while, at the same time, its details are contingent on many considerations better addressed at national and local levels.
... Nevertheless, this discourse perpetuates a colonial view of global North-South relations, as bioprospecting (the export of plant material from the global South to the global North) originated in this era. Exports of genetic material contributed to fuel further colonial and economic expansion, leading to the redefinition of bioprospecting as biopiracy (ibid.; see also Shiva, 1997;Parry, 2004;Robinson, 2010;Oguamanam, 2012). The CBD's objective of benefit-sharing seeks to create fairness within these exchanges, but nevertheless reproduces the same general model, which leads to the imposition of this approach in too uniform a manner. ...
Taking a bottom up perspective, this book explores local framings of a wide range of issues related to benefit-sharing, a growing concept in global environmental governance.
Benefit-sharing in Environmental Governance draws on original case studies from South Africa, Namibia, Greece, Argentina and Malaysia to shed light on what benefit-sharing looks like from the local viewpoint. These local level case studies move away from the idea of benefit-sharing as defined by a single international organization or treaty. Rather, they reflect different situations where benefit-sharing has been considered, including agriculture, access to land and plants, wildlife management and extractives industries. Common themes in the experiences of local communities form the basis for an exploration of spaces for local voices at the international level in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), often argued to be the most open arena to non-state actors, and therefore vital to how local voices may be included at the global level. The book analyzes the decisions of the CBD parties to produce an in-depth reflection on how this arena builds and delimits spaces for the expression of local community themes, and paths for local community participation including community protocols. The book then situates the bottom up findings in the wider debate about global civil society and deliberative democracy in environmental governance.
This interdisciplinary book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, environmental law, political ecology and global governance, as well as practitioners and policymakers involved in multilateral environmental agreements.
https://www.routledge.com/Benefit-sharing-in-Environmental-Governance-Local-Experiences-of-a-Global/Parks/p/book/9780367181871
... Coupled with this denigration of the intellectual value of IPLCs' TK and TCEsamidst compelling evidence to the contrary 6 -were, and are, assertions from rich, industrialised nations that many of the GRs and indeed broader biological resources 5 It is estimated that over 75% of global biological resources are found in the Global South and/or in traditional or ancestral habitats utilised by IPLCs. See, for example, Oguamanam (2012). 6 The first symmetric stone tools were invented in Africa. ...
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has, for nearly two decades,
engaged in formulating the nature and content of a text-based legal instrument
or instruments for the effective protection of genetic resources (GRs), traditional
knowledge (TK), and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs, also known as folklore)
within or relating to the international intellectual property (IP) system. This task
has been the job of WIPO’s Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property
and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), established
in 2000. In this article, I explore the context and rationales for, and evolution of,
one of the IGC’s evolving contributions: development of a tiered or differentiated
approach to the protection of TK and TCEs. The article discusses and analyses
the empirical ramifications and challenges of the tiered approach—alternatively
referred to as differentiated approach—with reference to examples of forms of TK
and TCE in Africa, North America and Australia. I conclude that the approach is
a work in progress, still evolving, which provides a useful broad policy framework
at the international level while, at the same time, its details are contingent on many
considerations better addressed at national and local levels.
... In one direction, digital maps have a great potential in the mapping and intergenerational transmission of Indigenous traditional knowledge (TK). TK is described by Oguamanam (2011) as follows: aspects of [. . .] self determination, human rights, culture, [. . ...
To understand how effectively digital maps of Indigenous languages engage a variety of audiences, a mixed-methods user study focused on the experiences of 23 Indigenous and non-Indigenous users aged under and over 30 from a Canadian university as they navigated an online Canadian Indigenous language atlas by completing a series of tasks. An evaluative component assessed the efficacy of the study itself in measuring such experiences. Indigenous participants found the atlas more relevant and useful and focused more on its linguistic content, while non-Indigenous participants focused on the layout and structure of the atlas’s framework. Digital language atlases can better address Canadian Indigenous populations by emphasizing multimodal representations of linguistic content, with easily accessible links to additional resources from the communities represented. While the study did capture multiple dimensions of user experience, low Indigenous participation decreased the efficacy of comparative statistical analyses. Future research can improve Indigenous representation by focusing on recruitment methods that engage and are relevant to Indigenous populations.
... In 1981, the International Bureau of WIPO initiated the establishment of a non-governmental organization called ATRIP (International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property) [5] . Further it established the WIPO World Wide academy (WWA) [6] , in order to serving as an educational institution for teaching, training and research in IP. ...
The term intellectual property has been used for almost one hundred and fifty years to refer to general area of law that encompasses copyright, patent, designs, and trademarks, as well as a host of related rights. Intellectual property law aims at safeguarding creators and other producers of intellectual goods and services by granting them certain time-limited rights to control the use made of those productions. Those rights do not apply to the physical object in which the creation may be embodied but instead to the intellectual creation as such. Intellectual property protection has long been an area of interest for researchers, students, policy makers and practitioners. In the present time Intellectual property rights have become common subject in all the disciplines of study. It is important not only for the lawyers, judges, law students but also engineers, scientists, artists, technicians, farmers, and as well as researchers also. Intellectual property is regarded as a symbol of national wealth that can boost the development of the economy of the country. High production of intellectual property materials protected by intellectual property law will act as stimulants to the development of the economy of the country. However, the success of the intellectual property system of a country depends very much on the public's level of awareness. To find out the awareness of students about the concept of IPR Law and to suggest possible ways to avoid it, a descriptive study was conducted. The objectives of the study were to examine the level of researcher's knowledge about concept of IPR, laws protecting IPR, knowledge about specific IPRs, and effect of IPR Laws and to suggest possible ways to prevent unauthorized use of IPRs. Study was delimited to the research students of P.G. and PhD in BBAU University. A sample of 60 students was selected through random sampling technique, 60 questionnaires was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. On the basis of findings it was concluded that they were not properly informed or taught about the concept of IPR Laws during their study and it had implications on the quality of research. The final section discusses conclusions as well as recommendations on appropriate measures taken in order to cultivate intellectual property awareness among the students and researchers.
... While the importance of biodiversity conservation and preservation of Indigenous TK are acknowledged, the underlying policy objectives make clear that these are seen as obstacles to be managed rather than foundational principles to be encouraged. Indigenous knowledge is essential to biodiversity conservation, and biotechnology growth will be stunted without access to Indigenous traditional knowledge of plants and animals (Oguamanam, 2005(Oguamanam, , 2006a(Oguamanam, , 2012Gillespie, 2011). ...
Genetic Resources, Justice and Reconciliation - edited by Chidi Oguamanam December 2018
... On this see also: Parry (2004); Van Dooren(2008);Oguamanam (2012);Robinson (2010); andShiva (1997). ...
This article discusses the ways in which community protocols might challenge the dominant discourses that guide environmental law and policy at the local, national and international levels and makes suggestions about the conditions that need to be fulfilled if such a challenge is to be effective. Community protocols have attracted the attention of many scholars as they are recognised in the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Nagoya Protocol. They are argued to hold the potential to achieve fair and equitable benefit-sharing by allowing local community voices to express their customary law, worldviews, and ideas of benefit and development among other things. While much of the existing literature discusses community protocols as legal tools, they are also tools that may challenge the dominant discourses argued to guide environmental law and policy. The article takes up this question on the basis of findings from five original case studies. It is argued that community protocols may challenge dominant discourses by: facilitating and articulating the recognition of local communities and indigenous peoples; providing a source for understanding their worldviews; and by empowering them in the long term. In order to achieve these outcomes, community protocol must be understood as processes and pay attention to legal and political contexts, how communities organise, the role of supporting actors, and the articulation of benefits.
Keywords: Community protocols, local communities and indigenous peoples, benefit-sharing, Convention on Biological Diversity.
... Several scholars emphasise the complex, dynamic and multilevel nature not just of IP rules, but also of the broader governance of knowledge (e.g. Burlamaqui et al., 2012;Chon, 2011;Oguamanam, 2011). Th e complexity of the scholarly endeavour has led to contrasting disciplinary perspectives and subtly diff erent framings of IP issues. ...
... Several scholars emphasise the complex, dynamic and multilevel nature not just of IP rules, but also of the broader governance of knowledge (e.g. Burlamaqui et al., 2012;Chon, 2011;Oguamanam, 2011). Th e complexity of the scholarly endeavour has led to contrasting disciplinary perspectives and subtly diff erent framings of IP issues. ...
Human development, including not just economic growth but also the capability for longer, healthier and more fulfi lling lives, depends on innovation and creativity. While various economic, technological, social and other factors infl uence innovative and creative activity, intellectual property (IP) rights – copyrights, pa tents, trademarks, trade secrets and other appropriation mechanisms – play an increasingly important role. How IP rights help or hinder innovation and creativity in diff erent contexts in Africa is the subject of this book. Th e chapters that follow canvass aspects of the current reality of IP in nine diff erent countries from the four main regions of the African continent. Th e chapters contain contextual analyses as well as on-the-ground case studies based on empirical, qualitative and quantitative research – and cut across diverse socioeconomic contexts and legal systems, and a spectrum of formal, informal and traditional sectors. Examined as a whole, the evidence in this book helps build understanding of the ways in which the dual goals of protecting IP and preserving access to knowledge can be balanced. Th e book also provides indications of the roles that are being, and can be, played by collaborative and openness-oriented dynamics in relation to innovation, creativity and IP. A better understanding of the nuances and dynamics of IP is essential to creating policy frameworks and management practices that balance IP protection and access in such a way that African regions, nations and communities can harness IP as a tool to facilitate collaborative networking within diverse systems of innovation and creativity.
Background/Objectives: Traditional nutritional knowledge, shaped by centuries of cultural and ecological adaptation, offers holistic and sustainable dietary frameworks that remain highly relevant to modern health challenges. However, current digital nutrition platforms often fail to reflect this diversity, relying instead on standardized models with limited cultural sensitivity. This paper aims to explore how traditional nutritional wisdom can be integrated into digital health platforms to promote more inclusive and effective approaches to personalized nutrition. Methods: This perspective paper employs a cultural adaptation framework to analyze the integration of traditional food knowledge into digital contexts. Drawing from interdisciplinary research across nutrition science, anthropology, digital health and implementation science, we utilize the Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) Framework and the PEN-3 Cultural Model to structure our analysis. A systematic scoping review of literature published between 2010 and 2025 was conducted to identify integration challenges and opportunities. Additionally, we analyzed case studies of three traditional dietary systems (Argentina, Italy and Japan) and evaluated five leading digital nutrition platforms for their degree of cultural inclusivity, using qualitative comparative methods. Results: The analysis highlights significant challenges in adapting traditional knowledge to digital formats, including standardization barriers, contextual loss and technological limitations. However, successful integration initiatives demonstrate that through participatory design, flexible data architectures and culturally-informed algorithms, traditional food systems can be meaningfully represented. Our proposed four-phase integration framework—documentation, digital adaptation, implementation and evaluation—provides a structured approach for developers and researchers. Conclusions: Bridging traditional nutrition with digital platforms represents a vital opportunity to enhance personalization and preserve food heritage while improving health outcomes for diverse populations. This integration requires interdisciplinary collaboration, user-centered design processes and ethical approaches that respect cultural ownership and context.
Self-Determination as Voice addresses the relationship between Indigenous peoples' participation in international governance and the law of self-determination. Many states and international organizations have put in place institutional mechanisms for the express purpose of including Indigenous representatives in international policy-making and decision-making processes, as well as in the negotiation and drafting of international legal instruments. Indigenous peoples' rights have a higher profile in the UN system than ever before. This book argues that the establishment and use of mechanisms and policies to enable a certain level of Indigenous peoples' participation in international governance has become a widespread practice, and perhaps even one that is accepted as law. In theory, the law of self-determination supports this move, and it is arguably emerging as a rule of customary international law. However, ultimately the achievement of the ideal of full and effective participation, in a manner that would fulfil Indigenous peoples' right to self-determination, remains deferred.
Addressing the management of genetic resources, this book offers a new assessment of the contemporary Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) regime.
Debates about ABS have moved on. The initial focus on the legal obligations established by international agreements like the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and the form of obligations for collecting physical biological materials have now shifted into a far more complex series of disputes and challenges about the ways ABS should be implemented and enforced. These now cover a wide range of issues, including: digital sequence information, the repatriation of resources, technology transfer, traditional knowledge and cultural expressions, open access to information and knowledge, naming conventions, farmers’ rights, new schemes for accessing pandemic viruses sharing DNA sequences, and so on. Drawing together perspectives from an interdisciplinary range of leading and emerging international scholars, this book offers a new approach to the ABS landscape; as it breaks from the standard regulatory analyses in order to explore alternative solutions to the intractable issues for the Access and Benefit Sharing of genetic resources.
Addressing these modern legal debates from a perspective that will appeal to both ABS scholars and those with broader legal concerns in the areas of intellectual property, food, governance, Indigenous issues, and so on, this book will be a useful resource for scholars and students as well as those in government and in international institutions working in relevant areas.
This paper aims to illustrate the crucial role of preserving, protecting and managing the environment by Indigenous Peoples in Japan and India. Traditional Knowledge has provided the ability to detect, understand and respond to environmental changes. However, modern science and applied technology often fall short of sustainable practices, acquired through ‘centuries of local observation’. Our consumer-centric world has unravelled a sad situation that has contributed to an irretrievable climate crisis. Multilateral instruments, however, have come to the rescue. In this journey, Japan and India have shown the world some constructive initiatives with positive outcomes which could go a long way in achieving the UN-SDGs.
There is an inevitable tension between industrialised nations and developing nations over ownership of information flow. For African countries, the inability to build the additional infrastructure needed to bridge the digital divide without the help of the private sector, as well as more developed countries, serves as a structural barrier to meaningful engagement in the information society. This article revisits Peter Drahos’s concept of information feudalism and argues that as information-rich states and non-state actors become politically powerful, African states are relegated to serfdom. Moreover, the various forces wrestling for primacy over information and data governance constrain African agency in the international system. The article answers two key questions: is Africa an active participant of the information society, and what does information politics underscore about the continued imbalance in the international system?
In this Working Paper, we present our findings in respect of the innovative and entrepreneurial behaviour of two local Indigenous organisations in a South African rural area with high poverty rates and little access to financial and technological infrastructure. Two local organisations situated in the Kruger to Canyon (K2C) Biosphere Region, South Africa, have built strong networking skills, made professional use of their traditional knowledge (TK), and have a stated aim to continue their community-based projects in dialogic collaboration with local, national, and international stakeholders. We argue that many of the actions taken by these two organisations constitute forms of social innovation and social entrepreneurship. We also argue that the actions of these two group provide evidence of the ways in which small enterprises can attempt to scale their enterprises through diversifying activities and increasing sustainability of activities, rather than through a narrow pursuit of economic profits.
This chapter examines the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) network as a unique cross-regional research platform. It links empirical and theoretical perspectives on PPPs to the key operational elements of Open AIR, including its core driving factors relevant to the development gap associated with IP and knowledge governance in Africa. In this regard, the chapter finds that insights from Open AIR’s construct and research findings, which flow from its activities as a research-driven rather than a product-driven initiative, can shine light on how PPPs (or cross-sector partnerships in general) can be better exploited and reengineered beyond their current and ad hoc interventionist outlook, in order to make them serve as effective sustainable development vehicles.
The chapter begins with a contextualization of PPPs in global governance generally and their evolution within sustainable development efforts. It then introduces Open AIR. The following section links various elements of Open AIR to potential characteristics of PPPs, emphasizing six features that have resulted in successful interventions: Cross-sector representation; novel approaches to problem-solving; cross-regional approaches; complex methods; networking of networks; interdisciplinary analysis; and a shared vision. The chapter then discusses the nexus of partnerships such as Open AIR to sustainable development, and reflects on policy ramifications, practical lessons, and limitations of the cross-regional research partnership model applicable to development PPPs.
Cambridge Core - Intellectual Property - The Cambridge Handbook of Public-Private Partnerships, Intellectual Property Governance, and Sustainable Development - edited by Margaret Chon
After decades of repression and neglect, traditional medicine in Kenya has become the object of increasing official attention in recent years. Initiatives have been proposed by a range of state bodies and civil society groups to regulate practice and to protect the traditional knowledge on which it is based. These are informed by the work of international bodies with which agencies and groups are closely connected. This article draws on governmentality theory in mapping these developments accounting specifically for international and national influences on the current wave of reform. It argues that initiatives are cast in normative, epistemic and rhetorical terms as responses to problems faced by the Kenyan state. Governance technologies deployed or proposed are oriented to the ‘problematization’ of traditional medicine in terms of health and safety, threats to sovereignty and national development. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 (CoK) provides a crucial normative anchor for each of these problematizations. Its specific provisions allow international imperatives to be re-articulated in terms of the national interest.
This paper positions and critiques the Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) network as a unique cross-regional PPP research platform. It examines, on empirical and theoretical perspectives, the elements of the Open AIR project, including its core driving factors relevant to the development gap associated with IP and knowledge governance 1 in Africa. The authors reflect on policy ramifications, practical lessons, and limitations of the cross-regional research partnership for not only advancing the sustainable development objective but also for expanding an understanding of PPPs in a context that is scarcely broached.
Human knowledge of the polar region is a unique blend of Western scientific knowledge and local and indigenous knowledge. It is increasingly recognized that to exclude traditional knowledge from repositories of polar data would both limit the value of such repositories and perpetuate colonial legacies of exclusion and exploitation. However, the inclusion of traditional knowledge within repositories that are conceived and designed for Western scientific knowledge raises its own unique challenges. There is increasing acceptance of the need to make these two knowledge systems interoperable but in addition to the technical challenge there are legal and ethical issues involved. These relate to ‘ownership’ or custodianship of the knowledge; obtaining appropriate consent to gather, use and incorporate this knowledge; being sensitive to potentially different norms regarding access to and sharing of some types of knowledge; and appropriate acknowledgement for data contributors. In some cases, respectful incorporation of traditional knowledge may challenge standard conceptions regarding the sharing of data, including through open data licensing. These issues have not been fully addressed in the existing literature on legal interoperability which does not adequately deal with traditional knowledge.
In this paper we identify legal and ethical norms regarding the use of traditional knowledge and explore their application in the particular context of polar data. Drawing upon our earlier work on cybercartography and traditional knowledge we identify the elements required in the development of a framework for the inclusion of traditional knowledge within data infrastructures.
In 2000, African countries expressed reservation over the adoption of UPOV Act of 1991 as a model of plant breeders’ rights (PBRs) for TRIPS- compliance. For the continent, an acceptable system of PBRs protection would include the protection of the “rights of communities and their indigenous knowledge, as well as the rights of farmers and fishermen, and their innovations, technologies and practices”. One and half decades after, Africa has virtually reversed itself and embraced the UPOV-PBRs system notwithstanding the latter’s narrow focus on breeders and marginal reference to farmers. This Article critically explores the concerted sites of pressures, especially free trade and economic partnership agreements, and related policies through which Africa appears to have capitulated and upturned its policy position on PBRs. The continent’s present priority over the implementation of PBRs through various regional and national legal initiatives currently at the instance of African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), the Southern African Economic Community (SADC) and specific country initiatives are explored. The article highlights the basis for the incongruity of Africa’s newfound interest in the UPOV-PBRs system – a regime not designed for the farmer-centered tenor of African agriculture. It calls attention to the continued relevance of Africa’s 2000 Model Law, especially as it applies to PBRs and recommends reality assessment as an important step toward the formulation of IPRs system suited for stakeholders in African agriculture for the continent’s food security and food sovereignty.
Traditional knowledge (TK) plays an integral role in supporting sustainable development practices, and can act as an enabler of sustainable development in indigenous and local communities (ILCs) through recognition of intellectual property rights (IPRs). This paper explores points of convergence and divergence, arguing that the application of IPRs to TK held by ILCs can help facilitate sustainable development. An overview of the normative development, including key definitions, relating to sustainable development and TK is offered as background. Contemporary tensions and arguments favouring the application of IPRs to TK are summarised, followed by an analytical reconciliation of points of divergence based on international and domestic legal practices, and a discussion of the role of TK in achieving sustainable development. Recognition of IPRs in TK held by ILCs through a specialised internationally binding instrument could work to reconcile lack of trust, positively incentivise preservation, and act as an equitable enabler of sustainable development.
The move towards privatization of public utilities such as water sector in India, particularly
in the metropolitan areas, has gone hand in hand with the growing gap between demand
and supply of water. With fiscal discipline being the key mantra of successive governments,
cost recovery as a policy goal is prioritized over access to water and sanitation. This paper is
a critical assessment of Greater Bangalore Water and Sanitation Project (GBWASP), which
aims to provide piped water to more than twenty lakh residents in Greater Bangalore. The
implementation of the Karnataka Groundwater Act, 2011, and the debates around it are
also examined in detail. The four main arguments are: huge gap between rhetoric and
ground realities when it comes to the implementation of GBWASP and the Groundwater
Act; the contestations between the elected representatives and bureaucrats have
implications for urban governance; the axes of dispute between the Bangalore Water Supply
and Sewerage Board and citizens have changed over time; the politics of negotiating access
to water also bring questions of sustainability to the fore.
In 2000, African countries expressed reservation over the adoption of UPOV Act of 1991 as a model of plant breeders’ rights (PBRs) for TRIPS-compliance. For the continent, an acceptable system of PBRs protection would include the protection of the rights of communities and associated indigenous knowledge, innovations, technologies and farming practices. One and half decades after, Africa has virtually reversed itself and embraced the UPOV-PBRs system notwithstanding the latter's narrow focus on breeders and marginal reference to farmers. This Article critically explores the concerted sites of pressures, especially free trade and economic partnership agreements, and related policies through which Africa appears to have capitulated and upturned its policy position on PBRs. The continent's present priority over the implementation of PBRs through various regional and national legal initiatives currently at the instance of African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), the Southern African Economic Community (SADC) and specific country initiatives are explored. The article highlights the basis for the incongruity of Africa's newfound interest in the UPOV-PBRs system—a regime not designed for the farmer-centered tenor of African agriculture. It calls attention to the continued relevance of Africa's 2000 Model Law, especially as it applies to PBRs and recommends reality assessment as an important step toward the formulation of IPRs system suited for stakeholders in African agriculture for the continent's food security and food sovereignty.
In this paper we examine three geographic crowdsourcing models, namely: volunteered geographic information (VGI), citizen science (CS) and participatory mapping (PM) (Goodchild, 2007; Audubon Society, 1900; and Peluso, 1995). We argue that these geographic knowledge producing practices can be adopted by governments to keep databases up to date (Budhathoki et al., 2008), to gain insight about natural resources (Conrad and Hilchey, 2011), to better understand the socio-economy of the people it governs (Johnston and Sieber, 2013) and as a form of data-based public engagement. The paper will be useful to governments and public agencies considering using geographic crowdsourcing in the future. We begin by defining VGI, CS, PM and crowdsourcing. Two typologies are then offered as methods to conceptualize these practices and the Kitchin (2014) data assemblage framework is proposed as a method by which state actors can critically examine their data infrastructures. A selection of exemplary VGI, CS and PM from Canada and the Republic of Ireland are discussed and the paper concludes with some high level recommendations for administrations considering a geographic approach to crowdsourcing.
The contest between competing knowledge networks is raging in the World Trade Organization (WTO) over diverse interpretations of the Agreement on Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. The sharpest conflict is between trade and public health. To what extent can persuasion and principled argument can be a potent asset for the weak to bring about desired change? How can the legal debate over the boundaries of the WTO and the extent to which declarations, laws, and regulations promulgated in other venues are relevant to WTO deliberations help developing countries devise strategies to press their concerns more effectively? Given sharply asymmetrical power relationships, what are the prospects for achieving outcomes that better balance public health and commercial concerns? This paper argues that principled argument has the potential to alter actors' interests and outcomes. While coercion is a viable weapon of the strong, principled argument can be a potent asset for the weak to bring about desired change. This is especially the case when such discursive strategies are coupled with the strategic use of a variety of institutions.
This Article attempts to map the challenges raised by recent encounters between intellectual property and development. It proposes a normative principle of global intellectual property - one that is responsive to development paradigms that have moved far beyond simple utilitarian measures of social welfare. Recent insights from the field of development economics suggest strongly that intellectual property should include a substantive equality principle, measuring its welfare-generating outcomes not only by economic growth but also by distributional effects. A new principle of substantive equality is a necessary corollary to the formal equality principles of national treatment and minimum standards that are now imposed on virtually all countries regardless of their level of development. Indeed this principle is arguably the very core of a human development-driven concept of development, a term that is highly indeterminate but lately used by many developing countries to express an equality concern within various global intellectual property regimes such as the WTO and WIPO. This proposed principle of substantive intellectual property equality would be analogous to strict scrutiny review in the judicial context of U.S. constitutional law. It would be foundational to any form of intellectual property decision making. Simply put, a decision maker would accord much less deference and exercise much more skepticism towards the proposed government action (in this case, the regulatory intervention by the state in the form of the grant of intellectual property protection, or the withholding of an exception or limitation to an intellectual property grant) when a knowledge good that affects basic human development capabilities, such as basic education or health care, is implicated. Certain foundational capacities, whether viewed as the sum of individual capabilities in knowledge or as national capacities in production of knowledge goods, should guide application and creation of intellectual property norms. This proposed substantive equality principle would match intellectual property's innovation mandate to the actual local conditions and concerns of developing countries seeking to join the global knowledge economy. It has taken on new urgency and significance given the recent agreement by WIPO member states to forward recommendations of The New WIPO Development Agenda to the General Assembly in the fall 2007.
Intellectual property (IP) is a reward and incentive market-driven mechanism for fostering innovation and creativity. The underlying, but disputed, assumption to this logic is that without IP, the wheel of innovation and inventiveness may grind to a halt or spin at a lower and unhelpful pace. This conventional justification of IP enjoys, perhaps, greater empirical credibility with the patent regime than with other regimes. Despite the inconclusive role of patents as a stimulant for research and development (R&D), special exception is given to patent's positive impact on innovation and inventiveness in the pharmaceutical sector. This article focuses on that sector and links the palpable disconnect between the current pharmaceutical R&D agenda and global public health crises, especially access to drugs for needy populations, to a flaw in the reward and incentive theory of the patent system. It proposes a creative access model to the benefits of pharmaceutical research by pointing in the direction of a global treaty to empower and institutionalize private–public partnerships in health care provisions. Such a regime would restore balance in the global IP system that presently undermines the public-regarding considerations in IP jurisprudence.
The patenting of human genetic materials provokes wide-ranging misgivings about the appropriate place and scope of intellectual property protections. The issues implicated range from anti-competitive practices in the market, the imposition of limits on biomedical research, increasing costs for health care, research ethics, potentials for racial discrimination, and various violations of human rights. Exploring controversies around the Human Genome Diversity Project, patents on genetic sequences, and patents on higher life forms such as the so-called “Harvard mouse,” the authors find that North American patent policy has developed in the absence of necessary political debate. They link this de-politicization to the hegemony of neo-liberal principles most fully demonstrated by the incorporation of intellectual property under international trade negotiations. They point, however, to the recent emergence and increasing audibility of new social movements that seek to reposition issues of intellectual property in larger debates about human rights, distributional equalities, and social justice.
Thus far, the moral debateconcerning genetically modified foods (GMF) hasfocused on extrinsic consequentialist questionsabout the health effects, environmental impacts,and economic benefits of such foods. Thisextrinsic approach to the morality of GMF isdependent on unsubstantiated empirical claimsand fails to account for the intrinsic moralvalue of food and food choice and theirconnection to the agent's concept of the goodlife. I develop a set of objections to GMFgrounded in the concept of integrity andmaintain that food and food choice can beintimately connected to the agent's personalintegrity. I argue that due to the constitutionof GMF and the manner in which they areproduced, such foods are incompatible with thefundamental values and integrity of certainindividual moral agents or groups. I identifythree types of integrity that are threatened byGMF: religious, consumer, and integrity basedon certain other moral or metaphysical grounds.I maintain that these types of integrity aresufficiently important to provide justificationfor political and societal actions to protectthe interests of those affected. I conclude byproposing specific steps for handling GMFconsistent with the moral principles ofinformed consent, non-maleficence, and respectfor the integrity of all members of society.They include mandatory labeling of GMF, theimplementation of a system for control andregulations concerning such foods, andguaranteed provision of conventional foods.
The battle over access to essential medicines revolves around the rights to issue compulsory licenses and to manufacture and
export generic versions of brand name drugs to expand access. Global brand name pharmaceutical firms have sought to ration access to medicines and have used their economic and political clout to shape United States trade policy. They have succeeded
in getting extremely restrictive TRIPS-Plus, and even US-Plus, intellectual property provisions into regional and bilateral
free trade agreements. Asymmetrical power relations continue to shape intellectual property policy, reducing the amount of
leeway that poorer and/or weaker states have in devising regulatory approaches that are most suitable for their individual
needs and stages of development. While the overall trend is disturbing, some recent activities in the World Health Organization
and evidence of greater unity behind health-based TRIPs flexibilities provide some grounds for cautious optimism.
Synthetic biology, which operates at the intersection of biotechnology and information technology, has the potential to raise, in a particularly acute manner, the intellectual property problems that exist in both fields. A preliminary patent landscape reveals problematic foundational patents that could, if licensed and enforced inappropriately, impede the potential of the technology. The landscape also reveals a proliferation of patents on basic synthetic biology "parts" that could create transaction cost heavy patent thickets. Both foundational patents and patent thickets are likely to be particularly problematic to the extent they read on standards that synthetic biologists would like to establish. Synthetic biology also illustrates a potentially symbiotic relationship between open and proprietary innovation models. For example, if and when synthetic biology "parts" begin be disseminated as openly pure information, such dissemination will likely increase demand for various proprietary DNA synthesis platforms.
As complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) continues to assume influence in medical care delivery, biomedical orthodoxy has contemporaneously experienced landmark technoscientific advances, tempting analysts to question the relevance of CAM to 21st century medical provision. This article focuses on one representation of contemporary advances in biomedicine, namely, the phenomenon of personalized medicine (PM) and the technoscientific contexts for its evolution. It examines whether biomedicine's embrace of the PM concept widens the conceptual and philosophical gulf between it and CAM.
Focusing on genomics and its translation into PM, the article finds that presently, the gene-environment dynamic is an important aspect of genomics and PM. However, there is a lopsided emphasis in the gene-environment matrix that focuses on toxicogenomics (i.e., the effect of toxins and chemicals, including drugs on genes and genetic materials). This approach to genomics ignores the role of other environmental stressors, which constitute components of an individual's health experience critical to PM.
If this lopsided approach is addressed, in a counterintuitive way, PM has potential for engendering a confluence between biomedicine and CAM as a part of the paradox of the 21st century medical landscape.
The US Bayh-Dole Act encourages university patenting of inventions arising from publicly funded research. Lessons from three decades of US experience serve as a cautionary tale for those countries that may choose to emulate Bayh-Dole.
Rapid developments in the area of biotechnology within the next decade are likely to have a significant impact on Canadian society. This article outlines the practical and ethical issues that will need to be addressed in the face of scientific advances, and contemplates the development of an appropriate policy framework in this regard. Surveying the approaches to policy development taken thus far, the author notes the underlying need for greater transparency and public participation. Rational and effective policies will only result from additional basic scientific data being made available to a more informed and engaged Canadian public.
'This book is a substantial contribution to the discussion on trade-related intellectual property rights. It provides a clear, step-by-step, in-depth analysis of the TRIPS agreement, particularly as it relates to the European pharmaceutical industry. Politics, law and economics are judiciously blended. Meir Pugatch's work should be read not just by academic experts and students in the field, but also by trade policy and IPR practitioners interested in an accessible, policy-relevant treatment of the issues at hand.'
If there is a consensus today about what strategies are most likely to promote development in poor countries, it is this: the 'Washington Consensus'-the oversimplified rendition of policies recommended by international financial institutions and the US Treasury-did not provide the answer. This chapter reviews the tenets of the Washington Consensus and shows why its orthodox recipes failed to generate economic growth in the countries that applied them. It goes on to outline the 'post-"Washington Consensus" Consensus', which has emerged as a result of the growing dissatisfaction with the Washington Consensus failures. Aspects include: the agreement that a successful development strategy cannot come only from Washington but must include the developing world in a meaningful way; one-site-fits-all policies are doomed to fail; countries should be given room to experiment, use their own judgment, and explore alternatives; development requires a balanced role between the state and the market and the strengthening of the institutions in each; and finally, success must be measured not only in GDP, but also must account for distribution as well as social and environmental sustainability.
This book brings together many leading international figures in development studies, such as Jose Antonio Ocampo, Paul Krugman, Dani Rodrik, Joseph Stiglitz, Daniel Cohen, Olivier Blanchard, Deepak Nayyer, and John Williamson to reconsider and propose alternative development policies to the Washington Consensus. Covering a wide range of issues from macro-stabilization to trade and the future of global governance, this book makes a real contribution to this important and ongoing debate. The book begins by introducing the Washington Consensus, discussing how it was originally formulated, what it left out, and how it was later interpreted, and sets the stage for a formulation of a new development framework in the post-Washington Consensus era. It then goes on to analyze and offer differing perspectives and potential solutions to a number of key development issues, some which were addressed by the Washington Consensus and others which were not. The book concludes by looking toward formulating new policy frameworks and offers possible reforms to the current system of global governance.
The Working Group on Indigenous Populations, an organ of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, ended its fourth annual session last August by distributing seven “draft principles” to governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for comment as the first step in preparing “a draft declaration on indigenous rights, which may be proclaimed by the General Assembly.” For the first time since indigenous organizations took their concerns to the international level in 1977, a formal commitment has been made to the development of new law, probably in time for the “cinquecentennial” in 1992 of the “discovery” of the Americas and a proposed international indigenous year.
'Combining unique practical experience with a sophisticated historical and theoretical framework, this impressive work offers a new basis to explore indigenous intellectual property. In this wide-ranging and imaginative study, Anderson has laid the groundwork for future scholarship in the field. Hopefully this work will set a new trajectory for how this important topic is approached and advanced with indigenous people.' - Brad Sherman, University of Queensland, Australia.
This accessible text provides a comprehensive overview of globalization and its consequences from the perspective of social and political critical theory. Thematic chapters provoke student inquiry and the book shows how the views of critical theorists are crucial to understanding the global processes shaping the world today. © Patrick Hayden and Chamsy el-Ojeili 2006. All rights reserved.
Recent innovations in biotechnology have produced many new, market-tailored agricultural products. Under current law, the developers of such new plant varieties have a number of options to protect their intellectual property rights. These options include utility patents, plant patents, state-law trade secret protection, and such private measures as product labels and contractual provisions. This Comment argues that none of the foregoing options is entirely satisfactory, and that the law must achieve a better balance among the property interests of the developers, the need to encourage further innovation in plant varieties, the preservation of competition in the seed industry, and the prevention of such environmental harms as genetic uniformity and genetic erosion. To this end, the author proposes amendments to the Plant Variety Protection Act that would strengthen the protection afforded to plant breeders, but shorten the period over which that protection extends. These amendments, the author contends, would insure profits for the developers of valuable plant varieties, thus providing an incentive for innovation, but would also promote competition in the seed industry by making new developments widely available for use in spurring further innovation, which in turn can help to reduce the threat of genetic erosion and genetic uniformity.
What is generally called globalization is a vast social field in which hegemonic or dominant social groups, states, interests and ideologies collide with counter-hegemonic or subordinate social groups, states, interests and ideologies on a world scale. Even the hegemonic camp is fraught with conflicts, but over and above them, there is a basic consensus among its most influential members (in political terms, the G-7). It is this consensus that confers on globalization its dominant characteristics. The counter-hegemonic or subordinate production of globalization is what is called insurgent cosmopolitanism. It consists of the transnationally organized resistance against the unequal exchanges produced or intensified by globalized localisms and localized globalisms.
The term “Washington Consensus ” was coined in 1989. The first written usage was in my background paper for a conference that the Institute for International Economics convened in order to examine the extent to which the old ideas of development economics that had governed Latin American economic policy since the 1950s were being swept aside by the set of ideas that had long been accepted as appropriate within the OECD. In order to try and ensure that the background papers for that conference dealt with a common set of issues, I made a list of ten policies that I thought more or less everyone in Washington would agree were needed more or less everywhere in Latin America, and labeled this the “Washington Consensus. ” Little did it occur to me that fifteen years later I would be asked to write about the history of a term that had become the center of fierce ideological controversy. The first section of this paper describes what I recollect about the background to my background paper for the 1989 conference. The second section retraces much more familiar ground, summarizing the ten points that I included in the Washington Consensus. This is followed by an account of the reception given to the term, and the analysis. The
The digital revolution has dramatically increased the ability of individuals and corporations to appropriate and profit from the cultural knowledge of indigenous peoples, which is largely unprotected by existing intellectual property law. In response, legal scholars, anthropologists, and native activists now propose new legal regimes designed to defend indigenous cultures by radically expanding the notion of copyright. Unfortunately, these proposals are often informed by romantic assumptions that ignore the broader crisis of intellectual property and the already imperiled status of the public domain. This essay offers a skeptical assessment of legal schemes to control cultural appropriation-in particular, proposals that indigenous peoples should be permitted to copyright ideas rather than their tangible expression and that such protections should exist in perpetuity. Also examined is the pronounced tendency of intellectual property debate to preempt urgently needed reflection on the political viability of special-rights regimes in pluralist democracies and on the appropriateness of using copyright law to enforce respect for other cultures.
Many current cultural disputes sound in the legal language and logic of discrimination or hate speech. The focus of this essay is on the claims made explicitly or implicitly on the basis of cultural property. The problem with using ideas of cultural property to resolve cultural disputes is that cultural property encourages an anemic theory of culture so that it can make sense as a form of property. Cultural property is a paradox because it places special value and legal protection on cultural products and artifacts but does so based on a sanitized and domesticated view of cultural production and identity. Within the logic of cultural property, each group possesses and controls--or ought to control--its own culture. This view of cultural property suggests a preservationist stance toward culture. This essay argues against both of these assumptions and for a view of culture that takes account of its dynamisms, appropriations, hybridizations, and contaminations. As a corrective to the paradoxes of cultural property, this essay offers a counternarrative of cultural fusion and hybridity. These themes are illustrated with an extended example of the regulation of Native American mascots generally and the invention of one such mascot--Chief Illiniwek--specifically.
Since the 1960s, Canada's Indigenous peoples have sought to rebuild their nations as well as their economic, political, social, and cultural systems, advancing their claims domestically through political and legal avenues and pressing their agendas internationally. Yet despite the constitutional entrenchment of Aboriginal rights and the Canadian state's choice to engage in a discourse of the inherent rights of Aboriginal peoples, domestic avenues have been marked by a state of “paradigm paralysis,” with Canadian authorities holding steadfast to the colonial paradigm. As a result, courts and politicians alike have failed to question the authority of Canadian governments over First Nations or to affirm the nation-to-nation relationship that once governed the Crown's dealings with Indigenous peoples. Instead, while political avenues have resulted in the recognition of inferior forms of self-government by “superior” Canadian governments, the constitutionally protected rights of Aboriginal peoples have been interpreted by the Supreme Court of Canada in a most limiting way, undermining claims to Aboriginal sovereignty, constraining the cultural autonomy of Aboriginal peoples, and precluding the creation of modern Aboriginal economies. This being the case, the question that arises is, Do global avenues offer greater promise for Indigenous peoples and their aspirations? By examining Indigenous peoples' engagement with trade liberalization mechanisms and intellectual property rights, the authors conclude that while, the international arena and multilateral trade organizations certainly are not predicated on protecting Indigenous peoples or their interests, they can be used to advance the political, social, cultural, and economic aspirations of Indigenous peoples.
Human rights and intellectual property protection are two distinct fields that have largely evolved separately. Their relationship needs to be re-examined for a number of reasons. First, the impacts of intellectual property rights on the realization of human rights such as the right to health have become much more visible following the adoption of the TRIPS Agreement. Second, the increasing importance of intellectual property rights has led to the need for clarifying the scope of human rights provisions protecting individual contributions to knowledge. Third, a number of new challenges need to be addressed concerning contributions to knowledge, which cannot effectively be protected under existing intellectual property rights regimes. This article examines the different aspects of the relationship between intellectual property rights, human rights, and science and technology related provisions in human rights treaties. It analyzes existing knowledge protection-related provisions in human rights treaties. It also examines some of the impacts of existing intellectual property rights regimes on the realization of human rights. Further, it analyzes the recently adopted General Comment 17 on Article 15(1)(c) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and proposes an alternative broader reading of this provision focusing on traditional knowledge.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialist agency of the United Nations that is responsible for overseeing support for intellectual property legislation alongside the development of new agreements governing intellectual property rights (IPRs). The organization's origins stretch back to the nineteenth century and the secretariats set up to administer the first major international agreements on cross-border recognition of IPRs: the Berne and Paris conventions. In 1970, some 80 years after these secretariats had been established and subsequently joined together (to manage these and other IPR-related treaties), the WIPO was launched. In 1973 it became an agency of the UN.
Australia's insect fauna comprises a very large component of its biodiversity, and one that remains a largely unknown and untapped resource. Estimates of global and Australian insect species richness are reviewed, and Australia's insect biodiversity is placed in its biogeographical context of Mesozoic, Gondwanan connectivity and Tertiary isolation. Some unique, relict faunal elements derived from Australia's long periods of isolation are highlighted. Examples of the dramatic insect evolutionary radiations are profiled that are the consequence of successful adaptation to new biomes made available by the environmental transformations in Australia in the latter half of the Tertiary. Then conservation of Australian forests and the major processes threatening Australian biodiversity are discussed: invasive species, habitat conversion and climate change. The four components necessary to build sustainability in Australia or throughout the world are discussed: description and understanding, direct action for conservation, promoting sustainable use in balance with conservation, and providing edu-cation and information to maintain the overall effort.
The article considers the impact, and relevance, of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration of the Human Environment in the contemporary context of international environmental law.. Its role as the first major document that cast environmental concerns as global concerns makes the Declaration especially helpful in exploring the conceptual foundations of international environmental law. The article explores five major principles that reflect the evolution of international environmental law since 1972. It argues that, irrespective of their legal status, international environmental law principles influence state action, as is evident, inter alia, in treaty-making, judicial decisions, and domestic law-making.
This essay asks: How did we get into the current crisis of copyright law, and how to move beyond it? This crisis developed as proliferating and expanding rights entered into tensions with each other and with exceptions. It has become acute as media progress has brought cultural creations into the internet and the darknet: we now face ever-harder copyright cases. This essay proposes principles to help courts resolve such cases: it bases its proposals on the rationales that it finds common to the laws of copyright and of authors' rights. At the start, to assure that such rights operate coherently, they are so defined, and remedies so articulated, that creators may not interfere with each other as they feed culture. Then, to meet real-world informational needs, rights are limited in time and made subject to exceptions from which end-users can benefit by relying on common sense alone. Further, for the sake of clarity and equity in copyright commerce, transfers are to be construed restrictively, and failures to license are to estop subsequent claims. Finally, overriding principles of privacy, of free expression, and of legality set parameters for enforcing rights. In conclusion, consequences are drawn for changing copyright doctrine and law. Visual examples, referenced online, illustrate the essay.
The history of patents begins, not with inventions, but with royal grants of industrial monopolies in the fifteenth century. By the end of the eighteenth century, however, patents represent a right to property in a novel mechanical or scientific invention. Commentators today maintain that this radical shift from royal monopoly privilege to legal property right occurred solely in response to economic or institutional demands. While political, economic and institutional conditions certainly played a role in this story, this article maintains that the ideas of John Locke were the fountainhead behind the evolution of patents for inventions. Although there were fits and starts toward a new patent doctrine in the seventeenth century, the watershed moment occurred when the common law courts acquired jurisdiction over patents from the Privy Council in the mid-eighteenth century. The common law judges - learned men steeped in the traditional rights of Englishmen and in the philosophy of natural rights - redefined the doctrine of patents by drawing upon the ideas that formed the basis of their own political and legal philosophy. The result was the novelty and the specification requirements, which are first described by Lord Mansfield and Justice Buller in terms that reflect John Locke's labor theory of property and social contract theory. In surveying the historical record, i.e., in looking at the ways in which royal councilors, judges and inventors conceived of patents between 1550 and 1800, the influence of Locke's ideas upon this important legal doctrine is evident. This provenance of patent law thus suggests that an inventor's moral right to the property in one's invention should play a role in the ongoing debate concerning the protections afforded by the patent laws.
Since the establishment of the TRIPs Agreement, intellectual property protection has been expanding rapidly, and many less developed countries have become dissatisfied with the international intellectual property regime. From bilateral free trade agreements to the increasing use of technological protection measures, many commentators fear that the recent "one-way ratchet" will roll back the substantive and strategic gains made by less developed countries during the negotiation of the TRIPS Agreement. Interestingly, intellectual property rightsholders feel equally threatened by the recent developments, in particular the development of the Doha Declaration, the World Summit on the Information Society, the WIPO Development Agenda, and the Geneva Declaration on the Future of WIPO. This Article challenges the incomplete views held by those on both sides of the debate and argues that the recent developments are neither new nor surprising. To help us better understand these developments, the Article traces the historical development of the international intellectual property regime and demonstrates that this regime is a product of repeated interactions between various sets of currents and crosscurrents. While the currents of multilateralism push for uniformity and harmonization, the crosscurrents of resistance enable countries to retain diversity while engaging in continuous legal experimentation. By bringing together these currents and crosscurrents, this Article demonstrates that the international intellectual property regime is an ongoing project that provides opportunities and crises for both developed and less developed countries, as well as rightsholders and individual end-users. This Article traces the origins of the Berne and Paris Conventions, the TRIPs Agreement, and the 1996 WIPO Internet Treaties. It discusses how countries became dissatisfied with the use of bilateral agreements to protect authors and inventors in foreign countries and thus pushed for the establishment of multilateral treaties. It also explores five crosscurrents that have emerged in the international intellectual property regime in recent years: reciprocization, diversification, bilateralism, non-nationalization, and abandonment. This Article suggests that these crosscurrents may undercut international harmonization efforts and create new challenges for the regime. It concludes by providing observations in five different areas: bargaining frameworks, regime development, global lawmaking, harmonization efforts, and judicial trends.
In recent years, the protection of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions has received widespread international attention. In 2003, delegates of 190 countries adopted the Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Two years later, the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was adopted under the auspices of UNESCO. In 2007, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In addition, there are active developments to strengthen protection of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions in the areas of international trade, intellectual property, and biological diversity. Taken together, all of these conventions, declarations, laws, and policy discussions have helped establish a new international framework for the protection of intangible cultural heritage. As part of the "Law Without Borders: Current Legal Challenges Around the Globe" Symposium, this article disaggregates intangible cultural heritage into its two components: intangible heritage and cultural heritage. The article explores the similarities and differences between the protection of cultural relics and that of intellectual property. It then examines eight different objectives for establishing the new framework. It also discusses four different challenges confronting the implementation of this framework: (1) the mode of protection; (2) the power to define protectible subject matters; (3) the means to identify those materials; and (4) the justifiability of international intervention. The article concludes by revisiting a crucial similarity between the protection of cultural relics and that of intellectual property - the need for enforcement and the related challenges. It suggests that countries with significant problems in both areas are likely to provide rich and fertile grounds for future research.
Are the like-minded, mega-diverse countries pushing an unwanted agenda on the international community? Or, was the idea of a potential protocol avoided during the Bonn Guidelines negotiations to avoid unnecessary controversy and protracted negotiations? Is the international community now ready to reopen the discussions? If so, is the most appropriate legal instrument a binding protocol? This article examines the implications of these controversial questions by looking at the main provisions that are most likely to be dealt with under a potential international regime. To address these questions, the article will first introduce the Bonn Guidelines that the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) requests should be taken into consideration when negotiating an international regime on ABS. Then, it will turn to the Bonn Guidelines' substantive provisions on benefit sharing, intellectual property, prior informed consent and material transfer agreements, the potential impact of a protocol on these issues, and, conversely, how these issues may affect the choice of legal instrument. The article analyses the advice given to the SBTTA by the expert panels on its justifications for a guideline, and considers the role of soft law and whether the necessary environment exists for a harder legal approach to ABS.
Developing countries find themselves pressured to harmonise their intellectual property (IP) standards so that they match those of the United States, Europe and Japan. This article provides historical evidence to support the authors' claim that when developed countries demand that the rest of the world adopt their current IP regulations, developed countries are preventing other countries from adopting appropriate patent and copyright standards for their levels of development. Developed countries thereby deny a freedom to others that they themselves enjoyed when they were developing.
Biotechnology and genetic engineering are having major impacts on agriculture and pharmaceuticals as well as in various environmental and industrial applications. However, social scientists and others often seem to have little understanding of these new technologies. This article identifies social, political, legal, and ethical areas of inquiry, and provides easy-to-understand examples of how biotechnology and genetic engineering are being applied.
"These anecdotes make the point that researchers and academics want their ideas to be disseminated. They work quite hard, in fact, traveling all over the world to disseminate their ideas. By contrast, intellectual property attempts to restrict the use of knowledge in one way or another. Intellectual property is supposed to encourage innovation. I argue below that a poorly designed intellectual property regime-one that creates excessively strong intellectual property rights-can actually impede innovation."
This article provides the first comprehensive analysis of the intellectual property case law of the European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR"). Within the last three years, the ECHR has issued a trio of intellectual property rulings interpreting the right of property protected by the European Convention on Human Rights. These decisions, which view intellectual property through the lens of fundamental rights, have important consequences for the region's innovation and creativity policies. The cases are also emblematic of a growing number of controversies in domestic and international law over the intersection of human rights, property rights, and intellectual property. The article analyzes this trend and uses it to develop three distinct paradigms to identify the proper place of intellectual property issues in the European human rights system. It concludes that the ECHR should find a violation of the right of property in intellectual property disputes only in cases of arbitrary government conduct.
With a multipolar international system and a membership ranging from micro-states to superpowers, the WTO is faced with many challenges in ensuring adequate representation and participation of its members. Coalitions have been one tool that small and poor countries have used to increase their power and participation. Such coalitions are beginning to change the organization’s dynamics. This Article assesses the impact of the WTO’s legal structure on coalition building and offers some suggestions for reform. If smaller or poorer developing countries are to participate more fully in multilateral trade negotiations and if this can better be done through alliances, the organization will have to adapt its law and practice to become more coalition-friendly or risk further marginalizing a large part of its membership. The first part of the Article presents an empirical analysis of developing country coalitions in the GATT and the WTO and proposes a typology of developing country coalitions. The second part assesses the WTO institutional structure for a coalition objective, analyzing the organization’s impact on each type of coalition identified in the first part. The second part also suggests possible structural adjustments to improve developing countries’ participation through coalitions. The third part looks beyond the organization’s institutional arrangements at how some trade instruments (preferences and bilateral or regional trade agreements) are used within the WTO context to counter coalition strategies.
The transition from the industrial to the informational revolution is a major current global issue. Its complex dynamic trajectories are explored by means of a methodological modelling framework, based on cybernetics and dynamic systems, taking into account alternative value and social contexts.
The constructs that underlie a discipline are complex and often times uncertain. It is argued that the ways in which we perceive and conceptualize are influenced by our habits of mind and our view of the world. This paper traces the concept of the "Information Society" from its inception in the discipline of economics through its development and its subsequent diffusion to the field of information science.
Food biotechnology: food industry, nutrition and public health - Volume 56 Issue 3 - Milly Ryan-Harshman
The development of so-called 'me-too', or 'follow-on', drugs by the pharmaceutical industry has been viewed by some as duplicative and wasteful, while others have argued that these drugs often provide needed therapeutic options and inject some price competition into the marketplace. This study examines data on the trends in the speed with which competitive entry has occurred in the pharmaceutical marketplace and the competitive nature of the industry's development of these drugs.
We examined data on the entry rates of drugs in a large number of therapeutic classes over time, as well as detailed survey information on the relative timing of the development of drugs in the classes. Classes were defined according to chemical structure or pharmacologic mode of action and similarity of clinical use. We determined average times to initial and subsequent entry in drug classes by period and examined the timing of development milestones achieved by what have turned out to be follow-on drugs in relation to the development and approval of the first drug in a class to be approved.
We found that the period of marketing exclusivity that the breakthrough drug in a new class enjoys has fallen dramatically over time (a median of 10.2 years in the 1970s to 1.2 years for the late 1990 s). Approximately one-third of follow-on new drugs received a priority rating from the US FDA. The vast majority of the follow-on drugs for drug classes that were created in the last decade were in clinical development prior to the approval of the class breakthrough drug.
The data suggest that entry barriers have fallen over time for new drug introductions. The increased competitiveness of the pharmaceutical marketplace was likely fueled by changes over time on both the supply and demand sides. The development histories of entrants to new drug classes suggest that development races better characterise new drug development than does a model of post hoc imitation. Thus, the usual distinctions drawn between breakthrough and 'me-too' drugs may not be very meaningful.
Critics of the WTO often cast it as an obstacle to human health, particularly in the poorest nations. Not only does this portrayal overlook potential synergies between trade and health; it all but ignores recent developments within the WTO that have affirmed member states' power to promote health. The WTO's framers paid little heed to health policy. Over the past few years, however, politics and the AIDS pandemic have pushed health to center stage as a trade issue. This article reviews the WTO's response. It considers the WTO's treatment of national health policies in several contexts -- GATT Art. XX(b) (permitting health regulations that restrict trade), the SPS Agreement (governing food safety regulation), and the TRIPS Agreement (limiting manufacture and sale of patent-protected medicines). It identifies an emerging pattern of heightened deference to national authority when member states' health policies conflict with other values protected by trade agreements. The WTO system, I argue, has come to treat protection for health as a de facto interpretive principle when disputes arise over members' treaty obligations. But rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all conception of rational health policy, WTO decision-makers have preferred the path of deference to members' varied policy choices. This approach sensibly accommodates the psychology of health politics, differences in culture and resources among member states, and hopes for recognition of health as a value in international law. Copyright Oxford University Press 2002, Oxford University Press.
The adoption by Ministers on 14 November 2001, in Doha, of the Ministerial Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health marked a turning point in political and legal relations at the WTO. Developing country Members sent a clear signal that they would take steps to protect and advance their essential interests. These Members demonstrated that by establishing a coalition, and maintaining it throughout a negotiating process, they could prevent themselves from being outmaneuvered by the EU-US block.The essence of the Declaration is captured in paragraph 4:"We agree that the TRIPS Agreement does not and should not prevent Members from taking measures to protect public health. Accordingly, while reiterating our commitment to the TRIPS Agreement, we affirm that the Agreement can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO Members’ right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all." The TRIPS Agreement is a flexible legal instrument, and the decision of Ministers will prove significant in supporting interpretations that promote the protection of public health. While the Declaration does not resolve developing country concerns regarding access to medicines and TRIPS, it is a significant milestone.