This briefing paper, aimed at policymakers and researchers, discusses the regulatory implications of having varied definitions of the term 'counterfeit' and outlines successful law enforcement initiatives to halt the trade in fake drugs. The paper outlines the problem of counterfeit medicines and the urgent issues to be considered by the international community before taking additional steps to tackle it. It discusses the controversy around intellectual property rights and counterfeits, and investigates the motives behind some anti-counterfeiting initiatives that seem to be more concerned with protecting patents.

This book, published by the intergovernmental organisation South Centre, presents a collection of articles on intellectual property (IP) restrictions and access to knowledge for developing countries.

An outcome of the South Centre Innovation and Access to Knowledge Programme, the book responds to pressure from IP owners to increase control over knowledge in different forms including digital platforms. 

This paper challenges the idea that patent counts provide reliable indicators of innovation in cross-country assessments. The authors argue that national differences in patent systems — how and why patents are granted and standards of examination — make comparisons across countries difficult at best, inaccurate at worst.

They urge readers to be cautious in interpreting the World Intellectual Property Organization findings that suggest the geography of innovation is changing — based on a sharp rise in patent counts in north-east Asia. The authors' own analysis of Chinese patent applications and legal frameworks in Brazil, India, Europe and the United States shows wide differences in the value of patents across regions.

They recommend developing a proper set of indicators for monitoring innovation capacities, particularly in developing countries.

As well as providing the full text of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, the WTO website also offers:

• a basic introduction to the agreement
• a more detailed overview
• a list of frequently asked questions about TRIPS
• a factsheet on TRIPS and pharmaceuticals

This background paper describes the basic principles behind two strategies that could be used to bring down the price of drug therapies: parallel importing (bringing drugs from another country) and compulsory licensing (restricting the monopoly rights of existing patent holders to permit generic drug production).

Other means of lowering drug prices are also briefly discussed. The paper aims to provide people with sufficient information to participate fully in the debate surrounding international trade laws and access to essential drugs (especially HIV-related medications).

The report is also available in French and Spanish.

This paper — based on a talk McDonald (University of Sheffield, United Kingdom) gave at QUNO — considers the costs and benefits of the patent system. The paper gives examples showing that the costs would seem to be considerable and their distribution as uneven as that of the benefits.

Staring out with a 'conventional' view of patents, the author then considers the use of patents in practice. He warns that the patent system is ripe for abuse, and that such exploitation is deliberately hidden from those who bear its costs. The author concludes that the greatest cost to society is that the patent system is, in fact, 'anti-innovative'.

This is a readable and personal account of the rationale, history and shortcomings of the patent system.

This background briefing sets out in plain language the development aspects of intellectual property rules, from the UK government’s perspective. It describes the controversies surrounding intellectual property, lists the potential costs and benefits, outlines research into the 'appropriate level' of intellectual property rules, and discusses issues surrounding TRIPS (in particular access to medicines and biodiversity). The paper emphasises the need to maintain the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement, which the government believes allow all countries — including developing countries — to implement domestic intellectual property regimes that take account of their local circumstances.

This paper was presented by Anil K. Gupta, of the Honey Bee Network in India, at the Second WIPO International Conference on Electronic Commerce and Intellectual Property held in Geneva from 19-21 September 2001.

For a large number of communities and knowledge experts, says Gupta, globalisation has reduced the opportunities for expressing values. Their values no longer encourage them to conserve biodiversity and other resources and the knowledge systems associated with them. Furthermore, while these knowledge-rich, but economically poor, communities have provided leads for modern pharmaceutical and seed industries, they have hardly ever shared in the benefits.

The situation could be halted by introducing traditional knowledge digital libraries (TKDL), he says. Such a library system would explicitly acknowledge the providers, producers and reproducers of traditional knowledge, and would share the results of its documentation with them in the relevant local language. The IPR issues related to the TKDL are discussed extensively in this paper.

To carry forward the ideas presented in this paper, several policy and institutional changes will be necessary. One of the most difficult challenges in relation to TKDL is the extremely poor Internet infrastructure in most developing countries.

This paper discusses a number of policy issues surrounding the protection of traditional knowledge (TK) that may be relevant to future negotiations or a deeper treatment of this issue in various international fora.
The paper aims to:

• highlight various perspectives on the policy issues raised for developing countries and traditional and indigenous communities within them by the expansion of intellectual property rights (IPRs);
• outline some definitional problems and the rationale and objectives for protection, different strategies for the use of IPRs for such protection, and various modalities of a sui generis regime as well as alternatives to these;
• examine the possible functions of a regime on TK, its impact on the intended beneficiaries and key ethical, economic, environmental and social concerns;
• consider the possible contribution of overseas development assistance (ODA) in developing and implementing policies on the protection of TK.