Book Details IP Rights And Development

Using on-the-ground research in Africa and the Netherlands, the authors of a recent book looked at the impact of intellectual property on agriculture and health in developing countries. The study made some surprise findings in relation to IP and development, such as IP-related obstacles to knowledge and technology transfer.

The book, published by Wolf Legal Publishers, is called “Harnessing Intellectual Property Rights for Development Objectives: The Double Role of IPRs in the Context of Facilitating MDGs Nos. 1 and 6.”

MDGs refers to the 2000 United Nations Millennium Development Goals aimed at 2015. MDG 1 relates to eradicating hunger and poverty, and MDG 6 to combatting HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.

This project, funded by the Dutch government and others, was coordinated by Tilburg University (Netherlands). It looked broadly at IP and barriers to development, conducted research with small farmers in Uganda, and examined IP, medicines, and HIV/AIDS with a focus on South Africa.

Recommendations included that developing countries create coherent national IP policies taking into account technology needs, and that sub-Saharan African countries need to develop IP rights that promote “pro-poor” facilities. Developed countries, for their part, should assist developing countries to build IPR infrastructure, “keeping in mind that imposing the full current system of international intellectual property rights inhibits domestic development and innovation.”

Intellectual Property Watch Editor-in-Chief William New served on the steering committee of the project and as an editor of the text.

The book is available in an open access format here.

Five policy briefs were written on aspects of the project, available on the website.