Analysis: Most Developing Countries Stand to Lose from a Worldwide Patent System

From http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=75515&CultureCode=en

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

A recently published analysis by legal scholar Morten Walløe Tvedt of the Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Norway, finds that the probable effects of introducing a Worldwide Patent System are overwhelmingly negative for most Third World nations, with more adverse effect the less developed a country is.

The aim of Tvedt’s study has been to understand how the ongoing process within the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to further harmonize patent law might affect developing countries.

While not formally on the agenda, such a process may lead to the establishment of a supranationalWorldwide Patent System (WPS). In a WPS, one global patent bureau, or perhaps a few major ones, will have the authority to issue a worldwide patent that would become legally binding for everyone, companies and persons alike, in all member countries.

Tvedt’s overall conclusion is that developing countries will have few opportunities to use such a system for their economic growth, while an increased number of foreign patents will narrow down their free and open space for innovations.

The analysis shows that it is primarily the large, multinational companies (MNCs) with market interests in several countries that stand to benefit from a WPS. Developed countries, especially Anglophone countries and countries where other major languages are used, would also stand to gain. This is mainly because a WPS would substantially reduce duplication of work and would reduce workloads for both MNCs and national patent offices. This is not necessarily a good thing for a developing country. Most developing countries have few, if any, technologically advanced MNCs. A global system may also reduce the patent fee as a possible revenue for governments of developing nations.

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