The international strengthening of IPR and air pollution abatement: the role of the TRIPs agreement

This paper comes in the wake of the literature considering technological progress as the main device to offset air pollution caused by economic activity. The issue has been extensively studied in general, but there is no previous research on the effects that an international strengthening of legal protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) due to the Uruguay Round Agreement and the Annex on Trade-Related aspects of the IPR (TRIPs, for short), underwritten in 1994, may have had on worldwide emissions, as a result of the discovery of new or more efficient air pollution abatement technologies. Different econometric models are used to give a quantitative measure of the TRIPs agreement to reduce air pollution. In particular, the impact of the TRIPs is addressed using a dummy variable and the index of Ginarte and Park (Ginarte, Park 1997) that is one of the more commonly used indicators of TRIPs enforcement employed in economic literature. The findings of this research partially support the idea that the strengthening of a uniform minimum standard protection level of IPR, among the member countries of the World Trade Organization, may help to reduce air pollution emissions

South-North trade, intellectual property jurisdictions, and freedom to operate in agricultural research on staple crops:

A biotechnology revolution is proceeding in tandem with international proliferation of intellectual property regimes and rights. Does the intellectual property impede agricultural research conducted in, or of consequence for, developing countries? This question has important spatial dimensions that link the location of production, the pattern of international trade, and the jurisdiction of intellectual property. Our main conclusion is that the current concerns about the freedom to operate in agricultural research oriented towards food crops for the developing world are exaggerated. Rights to intellectual property are confined to the jurisdictions where they are granted, and, presently, many of the intellectual property (IP) rights for biotechnologies potentially useful to developing-country agricultural producers are valid only in developed countries. IP problems might arise in technologies destined for crops grown in developing countries unencumbered by IP restrictions, if those crops are subsequently exported to countries in which IP is likely to prevail. Thus freedom to trade is also part of the IP story. However, using international production and trade data in the 15 crops critical to food security throughout the developing world, we show that exports from developing to developed countries are generally dwarfed by production and consumption in the developing world, the value of these exports is concentrated in a few crops and a few exporting countries, and the bulk of these exports go to Western Europe. Thus for now, most LDC researchers can focus primarily on domestic IPR in determining their freedom to operate with respect to food staples.Intellectual property., Biotechnology., Agricultural research., Trade regulation.,

The Role of the Patent System in Stimulating Innovation and Technology Transfer for Climate Change

The world increasingly faces the adverse impact of climate change. What role can intellectual property play to stimulate the necessary innovation and technology transfer? Providing an inventory of patent law, policy and information, including certain private initiatives, this thesis discusses issues at the crossroads of intellectual property and climate change, such as: compulsory licensing for climate change, patent office

The changing tide: Federal support of civilian-sector R and D

The involvement of the Federal government in civilian sector research and development is discussed. Relevant policies are put in an historical perspective. The roles played by industrial research and public funding are reveiwed. Government support of basic an generic research, clientele-oriented applied research, and research with commercial ends is studied. Procurement, anti-trust, and patent policies, all of which affect the climate for private research and development, are examined

The Use of Trademarks in Empirical Research: Towards an Integrated Framework

This paper represents an early attempt to develop an integrated framework linking empirical studies that make use of trademark statistics. Despite its youth, this field of scholarly activity has already accumulated a critical mass of papers that allow us to draw first general conclusions about the trademark lifecycle and its impact on organisational functioning. Based on a systematic review of 64 articles with some elements of empirical trademark analysis, five broad research areas have been identified, namely: the determinants of trademark deposits; the relationship between trademarks and innovation processes; the role of trademarks in differentiating product offerings; the strategic use of trademarks; and the impact of trademarks on firm performance. Within each category, a more detailed aggregation of articles has also been proposed. Overall, the analysis has shown that the performance-based perspective currently dominates the research landscape, with studies on trademark deposits and the trademark-innovation link to follow. At the same time, there is still little known about micro-foundations of a company's trademarking behaviour; the use of trademarks and other intellectual property rights in a complementary way and its effect on value transference; as well as the performance implications of differentiation strategy. This paper considers these and other findings to outline directions for future research