Industry Urged G20 To Consider Importance Of IP

Industry representatives sent a message to the Group of 20 leaders last week that intellectual property rights should be given more attention by governments and could bring benefit to the global economy if properly protected. A representative from the Confederation of British Industries said policymakers should assess the economic value of IP, IP offices should look for ways to help businesses – like cutting fees and reducing patent backlogs, and governments should take the view that stronger IP rights would help rather than interfere with innovation for climate change technologies. “We believe the private sector can and must play a pivotal role in turning these struggling, but ambitious, [developing] nations into cultivators of their own innovation, not merely recipients of it,” said Mark Esper of the host US Chamber of Commerce. Time will tell whether this role was fulfilled.