Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development

Member States of WIPO Support Enabling and Enhancing Transfer of Clean Tech

At the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO's) Assembly of Member States, in support of Director General Francis Gurry's opening remarks to the Assembly (see 23 Sept 2009), many nations have also called for accelerated efforts to be made in the cross-border transfer of Environmentally Sustainable Technologies (ESTs). One such country, playing a key role in climate change negotiations, India, stated: We need to speed up the development and deployment of new green technologies across sectors so that the economies of scale bring the benefit of lower costs. Our national IPR regime and the global IP system need to be seen as facilitating the resolution of the key global challenges of climate change, sustainability and food security. - Opening Statement of the Indian Delegation However, no delegation has, as of yet, provided specific information on how it believes the cross-border transfer of ESTs could be accelerated. Perhaps tangentially related, the Korean IP Office is pushing its initiative on increased Access to Information on Appropriate Technologies (http://www.ipforliving.org/).

Labels: Climate Change, Development, ESTs, Green Innovation, IP, Technology Transfer, WIPO

WIPO Director General Gurry comments on Climate Change and IP

In his opening remarks and Report to the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which is being held from 22 Sept. - 01 Oct. 2009 in Geneva, the Director General stated:

"...Let me conclude by referring to WIPO and intellectual property (IP) in the broader global agenda. We have, as an Organization, set a new objective of engagement with global policy issues....We have held a successful conference on IP and public policy issues in July to stimulate greater dialogue. But perhaps the most important public policy issue of all is now arising for discussion, namely, the challenge of climate change.There is a perception that intellectual property may be a negative influence in the range of policy initiatives that are needed to deal with climate change. I do not believe that this perception corresponds to reality. It is generally recognized that technological innovation will be central to global efforts to deal with the challenges associated with climate change. It is also coming to be recognized that this innovation will be needed across the whole infrastructure of the economy to give that infrastructure ultimately a carbon-free or carbon-neutral character. In this context, it is difficult to imagine how a property right on an individual piece of technology could constitute an obstacle. On the contrary, IP as a systemic stimulus to the creation and diffusion of technology has a very positive contribution to make to our efforts to develop green innovation. It will assist the economy to adjust by favouring investment in green innovation. Some countries have started to use IP in a dynamic way to favour desired outcomes by creating fast-track channels for processing green innovations. Much more is possible. Given that climate change is global, green innovation will be of relatively little benefit if it is applied in only one country. Transfer of technology is thus fundamental to effective action. The policy challenge of shepherding, through a public process, the transfer of such an extensive range of technology held in private hands is daunting and, frankly, has never been achieved before. Here again, the experience of the intellectual property system and community in the creation, commercialization and diffusion or transfer of technology can make a valuable contribution." - Dr. Francis Gurry, Director General of WIPO

Labels: Climate Change, ESTs, Green Innovation, IP, WIPO