2020 IP Day Close the Gap
Apr 24, 2020
Please join for the Policy Webinar: 2020 World IP Day.
The Global Voices Supporting Intellectual Property Rights.
When: April 27th, from 9am (EST) to 10 am
Where: click this link: Microsoft Teams
Agenda:
Moderator: Lorenzo Montanari, executive director of Property Rights Alliance
Welcome Remarks: Matt Bryan, WIPO Director of the PCT Legal and User Relations Division
- Philip Thompson, IP and Trade Specialist, Property Rights Alliance. Presenting the World IP Day Coalition Letter
- Prof. Mark Shultz, University of Akron School of Law
- Prof. Vladimir Maciel, Director of the Center for Economic Freedom, Mackenzie University (Brazil). The challenge of CODIV 19 to the IP system in Brazil.
- Jasson Urbach, Director of Free Market Foundation (South Africa). South Africa and the removal of the intellectual property rights.
As part of World IP Day Property Rights Alliance organized a coalition letter signed by 93 think tanks from around the world to World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) director-general Francis Gurry. This year’s theme is “Innovate for a Green Future.”
However, the global Covid-19 pandemic has taken over as the most pressing challenge affecting the world today and IP protections are key to finding a solution. The letter states “Keeping these protections intact is the only way to ensure inventors can continue making bold investments in new technologies and medicines that improve global health.”
IP and the Economy: Europe and North America, the regions that have the highest protections of property rights, according to the International Property Rights Index, are home to large IP-intensive economies. In the United States, the sector generates nearly 38 percent of GDP and in Europe 45 percent. Together their IP-intensive industries employ 90 million hard-working men and women that earn on average 46 percent more than their counterparts in other industries.
Close the Gap: Their scores on the Property Rights Index are 31 percent greater than the rest of the world and their per-capita income 16 times greater than those at the bottom. If all countries and all people are going to have the same opportunity to contribute to the next era of innovation this IP rights gap must be closed.
The property rights ecosystem is composed of the Legal and Political environment, the Physical Property Rights environment, and the Intellectual Property Rights environment. See the below graphic on how a large gap remains in between North America and Europe and the rest of the world for overall property rights protections
Closing this gap is important. It provides entrepreneurs and artists a fighting chance to own their work and carve out a living based on their individual efforts. Increasing IP protections also invites other innovators to take part in IP-intensive breakthrough- such as fighting COVID-19. In fact, the strongest correlation with the Intellectual Property Subindex of the IPRI is with the Global Biotech Innovation Index at .92. That’s why there is no surprise that U.S. based biopharmaceutical firms (which is 2nd globally on the IP Index) are leading the way in COVID-19 vaccine and treatment research
As stated in the letter “the more IP rights are protected the more the global community can benefit from the collective wisdom, ingenuity, and creativity of the world’s people.” That’s why it’s more important than ever to strengthen these rights across the world. From discovery to doctor prescriptions a new medicine takes at least 10 years of development, requiring more than $2billion. Only when countries establish robust IP protections can more people, and countries, contribute to the development of medicines and vaccines that allow humanity to live longer healthier lives.
