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Your source for expert commentary on IP management issues.
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About
Editor-in-Chief, Anatole Krattiger
Editorial Board
Concept Foundation
PIPRA
Fiocruz, Brazil
bioDevelopments- Institute
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The IP Toolbox
Topic Guide for Policymakers
Why This Topic Is Important
The types of IP protection that are available constitute the fundamental toolbox that policymakers can
make available in their country to inventors. This section provides interpretive introductions to each of the
main types of IP protection that are relevant in agriculture and medicine—including patents, trademarks,
plant variety protections (or plant breeders’ rights), database protections, and regulatory data exclusivity.
Most chapters describe the IP laws in the context of specific countries, while some provide more general
treatments of the legal IP concepts including those developed as international standards in TRIPS and
UPOV.
Key Implications and Best Practices: Section 4
Given that IP management is heavily context specific, these Key Implications and Best Practices are intended as starting points to be adapted to specific needs and circumstances.
- The statutory tools of IP, such as patents, copyright, trademarks, trade secrets, geographic indications, and plant variety protection, are tools that can be used to achieve a goal. The tool in itself is neutral; what matters is how the tool is used.
- When setting up a patent office, notwithstanding considerable latitude provided under TRIPS, there are advantages in implementing practices that are consistent and compatible with the practices of other countries. Doing so will facilitate greater opportunities for international collaboration in R&D and technology transfer. Particularly important is making patent applications and issued patents available online. This furthers innovation and licensing.
- Copyright is also an important form of IP that can be used to encourage innovation. The recent trend, at least in the United States, to provide for ever-increasing duration of protection (now exceeding four generations) should be avoided as this approach prevents the availability of important commercially but insignificant works.
- The use of trademarks is important for building integrity and stability in commerce and for offering new opportunities for national innovations. Trademarks can also be highly valuable for public sector entities.
- Judicious plant variety protection of new varieties will encourage investments in the development of crops that are essential for food security, a better environment, and economic development. As with patents, domestic innovation, the transfer of foreign varieties for increased production and productivity, and spurring national investments in crop breeding can be enhanced significantly through membership in international bodies, such as UPOV. This can lead to the earlier availability of improved varieties.
- Notwithstanding the above, countries can exercise significant latitude in regulating access to certain categories of plant genetic resources they consider strategically important. Plant breeding, however, and the enhancement of crops, is based on the stepwise improvement of existing varieties, and this requires broad access to genetic material. Related to this are geographic information systems and corresponding data protections that can add substantial value to biodiversity resources and traditional knowledge.
- Introducing stringent confidentiality of data and exclusivity laws can prevent early introduction of generics and promote competition critical for improving access to life saving drugs. There is a need to balance the various competing interests.
- IP protection mechanisms, however, depend upon effective and equitable enforcement by national governments. This requires effective, transparent, and enforceable contract law that can be implemented to protect natural, cultural, and economic resources, all by furthering useful interactions with the global community. This balance is critical.
 Abstract
Data Protection and Data Exclusivity in Pharmaceuticals and Agrochemicals
by Charles Clift
Abstract:
The chapter discusses the meanings of data protection and data exclusivity in the context of the provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement. In addition, it outlines the relationship between data exclusivity and patent protection and briefly reviews the possible costs and benefits of introducing data exclusivity laws. Finally, the chapter explains that countries need to consider the costs and benefits when negotiating bilateral trade agreements that might require the introduction of these laws.
Abstract
Plant Variety Protection, International Agricultural Research, and Exchange of Germplasm: Legal Aspects of Sui Generis and Patent Regimes
by Michael Blakeney
Abstract:
This chapter outlines the range of plant variety protection regimes that currently exist internationally, including the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The chapter commences with a history of intellectual property laws affecting plant breeding and the genetic modification of plants. It explores the trend toward the harmonization of international standards and concludes with an examination of the impact of these developments upon germplasm exchange, international agricultural research, and food security.
Abstract
The Statutory Toolbox: An Introduction
by John Dodds, Anatole Krattiger
Abstract:
This chapter presents the main forms of statutory intellectual property (IP) protection with emphasis on utility patents, trademarks, geographical indications, copyright, and trade secrets. Basic questions with regard to who can get protection, the subject matter of each form of protection, statutory requirements, and certain exceptions. The chapter concludes with short sections on institutional aspects including employee agreements, how to mark the protected intellectual property, how to integrate the various rights, and how to identify infringement. The authors conclude that the form of protection chosen for a given invention should be guided by the mission of the institution (whether public or private), the purpose of the work it conducts, and the nature of the invention, or other IP, that will be subject to IP rights protections.
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