Global Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)
Jan 2024
During a business class, I was introduced to the complex and fascinating world of IPRs, which opened my eyes to how countries handle innovations, creativity, and technology on an international scale.
The idea of intellectual property is pretty straightforward: it’s about giving creators rights to their inventions, designs, and artistic works. However, the enforcement and strength of these rights can vary significantly across borders. For instance, many developed nations, like the U.S. and EU members, have strong IPR laws to protect innovation, while many developing countries are hesitant to adopt such strict regulations.
Why?
Because they argue that stronger IPR laws might stifle their own technological growth and benefit only the big global players.
Thats because intellectual property rights are tied to economic development. For developed countries, strong IPRs stimulate more research and development. But for developing nations, the focus is more on adopting and adapting existing technologies, so strict IPR enforcement could actually slow down their progress by making technology too costly or inaccessible .
Developed Countries
Patent holders in developed nations push back on giving developing countries more leeway on intellectual property rights for a few big reasons:
Revenue Loss
Patents give companies exclusive rights to make money off their inventions. If developing countries are allowed to bypass these patents, the patent holders stand to lose a lot of cash, especially in industries like pharmaceuticals or tech, where the costs to create new products are super high. These companies depend on patent protection to make their money back.
Weakens the Global System
If some countries start ignoring or bending the rules on intellectual property, it could set a dangerous precedent that weakens the whole global system. Patent holders worry that if one country gets away with it, others might follow, leading to a breakdown in the protections they rely on.
Counterfeiting
This is a big deal for things like medicines, where knockoffs could be dangerous. Software can be easily pirated.
Stifles Innovation
Companies argue that if they lose patent protections in certain markets, they’ll have less incentive to invest in new technologies or products. Why spend millions (or billions) on R&D if others can copy their work without paying for it?
Competitive Edge
Industries worry that if developing countries get more freedom, they’ll catch up too quickly, creating more competition. Companies with patents want to keep their competitive advantage for as long as possible by controlling how and where their intellectual property is used.
Patent holders are mainly focused on protecting their profits and making sure their innovations are safe from being copied. For lawmakers, it’s a tricky balance between supporting global progress and ensuring companies get rewarded for their work.
Undeveloped Countries
Its easy to see how strict IP rules create big challenges for underdeveloped nations.
High Costs for Medicine
Small countries need access to a life-saving drug. The patent holder sets the price high. As a result, people might not get access to critical medicines because their government can’t produce cheaper, generic versions without breaking the patent.
Limited Access to Technology
Smartphones, computers, farming equipment etc. If a company holds a patent for a certain technology, undeveloped countries cant manufacture or use it without paying big licensing fees. This limits their ability to grow industries, improve education, or modernize agriculture.
Stifle Innovation
Imagine a tech startup in an undeveloped country wants to create a cheaper alternative to an existing product, but the patent prevents them from doing so. This stifles creativity and keeps those countries reliant on products from wealthier nations, rather than letting them build homegrown solutions.
Increased Inequality
When only developed nations can afford the latest technology, medicines, or research, the gap between wealthy and poorer countries grows even bigger. Some countries are advancing in clean energy tech, others are stuck using older, less efficient, and harmful methods because they can’t access or afford the new innovations.
Strict IP protections often leave undeveloped countries on the outside looking in. They need access to these technologies and medicines to grow and improve, but they’re priced out or blocked by patent laws, which makes it harder for them to catch up with the rest of the world.
COVID
At the beginning of the pandemic, the WHO asked countries and companies to voluntarily share their vaccine IP in the spirit of global solidarity. However, Moderna and Pfizer did not contribute their COVID-19 vaccines to the WHO’s technology access pool. Moderna and Pfizer also disregarded licensing requests from qualified manufacturers, even when they themselves were struggling to meet the high demand for vaccines.
It took 2 years for South Africa to develop an alternative method, during which many preventable deaths occurred.
