Technical Assistance for the Formulation and Implementation of Intellectual Property Policy in Developing Countries and Transition Economies
by Tom Pengelly
As developing countries continue implementing IP-related treaties, such as the TRIPS Agreement, and participate in new negotiations at the multilateral, regional and bilateral level, appropriate and effective technical assistance and capacity building will be crucial if these countries are to use IP tools effectively in the pursuit of their sustainable human and economic development goals.
Ensuring that the limited resources allocated to IP technical assistance effectively respond to the expectations of all members of society in developing countries requires a multi-stakeholder and constructive debate highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of current programmes and exploring ways to improve them from a sustainable development perspective. Surprisingly enough, however very limited independent analytical work has been undertaken in this area and the literature is scarce.
The overall objective of this paper is to contribute to a constructive, informed and evidence-based debate on the policies and procedures used by some of the main donor institutions and providers in the design, financing, delivery and evaluation of IP-related technical assistance to developing countries and transition economies.
Data for the study was collected by a variety of methods. A literature review and website survey was first conducted. Then questionnaires were sent to each of the donor organisations which are the subject of the five case studies in this paper. The extent of information which was received through the questionnaire process (eg on financing of IP technical assistance programmes) varied considerably. Finally, a limited number of interviews were held with developing country representatives at the WIPO Assemblies meeting in Geneva in September 2003.
The rest of this paper comprises four chapters:
• In Chapter 2, the common needs of developing countries and transition economies for IP technical assistance and capacity building are identified.
• The main sources of IP-related technical assistance programmes and the types of services and activities provided are presented and analysed in Chapter 3;
• Chapter 4 considers how IP-technical assistance is guided by donor policy objectives and is designed, implemented, financed and monitored by five different donor organisations via case studies on the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO); the European Patent Office (EPO), the European Commission (EC); the United States; and IP Australia.
• Finally, in Chapter 5, some strategic issues for the future of IP technical co-operation programmes with developing countries and transition economies are presented.
The author would like to express his sincere gratitude for the co-operation of all of those who have provided information or participated in interviews for the paper and the five case studies. Advice and comments provided by Pedro Roffe and David Vivas Eugui at ICTSD also improved the paper greatly. Any errors or omissions remain, however, the responsibility of the author. Any comments please send to Tom Pengelly