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Entries tagged with ‘innovation’
TRIPS agreement
The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of talks of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It is an international agreement that sets down minimum protection standards on various intellectual property rights. It is administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and applies to all members of the WTO.
The TRIPS agreement’s goal was to standardize the way intellectual property rights are protected around the world in order to provide inventors with an incentive to produce ideas that will benefit society as a whole. “It strikes a balance between the long term benefits and possible short term costs to society. Society benefits in the long term when intellectual property protection encourages creation and invention, especially when the period of protection expires and the creations and inventions enter the public domain.” (WTO website on TRIPS)
Nevertheless the TRIPS agreement has been criticised for limiting access to medicine in developing countries and distributing wealth from the developing countries to the developed ones. In response to these concerns the Doha Declaration was released in 2001 reinterpreting the agreement “in a manner supportive of WTO members” (WTO website on Doha) right to protect public health and, in particular, “to promote access to medicines for all” and reaffirming the provision for flexibility to circumvent patent rights for this purpose.
Sources:
WTO website on the TRIPS agreement http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/agrm7_e.htm
WTO website on the Doha Declaration http://www.wto.org/english/theWTO_e/minist_e/min01_e/mindecl_trips_e.htm
Entry submitted by Samantha Krawczyk
XIX Ibero American Summit issues Lisbon Declaration
At the close of the XIX Summit held in Portugal (29 November to 1 December, 2009), the 22 heads of state and government of Ibero-America signed the Lisbon Declaration, which underlies their determination to promote innovation and knowledge in the region. The Declaration recognizes the importance of both as essential tools to eradicate poverty, fight hunger, improve populations’ health and achieve sustainable, integrated, inclusive, equitable and environmentally friendly development. One of the commitments contained in the Declaration is the creation of the biennial Ibero-American Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation. Another one is the implementation of an ambitious program in technology innovation and applied technology to strengthen the quality of the labor supply in the region and thus allow for technology transfer.
Entry submitted by Maira Devisscher
Symposium ‘09: final session - Responses from the international community, government, media, civil society and the private sector
The last session, chaired by Melissa Leach, invited various participants to feed back on the preceding discussions.
Symposium ‘09: Session 4 - Internationalisation of science, technology and innovation policy - what room for “constitutional” reform?
In response to the set of proposals put forward in the New Manifesto (outlined by Andy Stirling), this session, chaired by Adrian Ely, discussed the potential for reform of institutions involved in setting STI policy (including governmental and non-governmental actors at national and international levels).
Symposium ‘09: Session 2 - Grassroots/bottom up innovation - how to facilitate emergence and flourishing
The second session, chaired by Ian Scoones, took forward one of the focal points of the new manifesto, that innovation is already occurring across the world in forms that are not necessarily picked up by conventional metrics or policies.
Symposium ‘09: Session 1 - Themes, challenges and opportunities - international debates
This first session, chaired by Melissa Leach, introduced and contextualised the new manifesto project, outlining some of the assumptions of mainstream approaches and identifying opportunities and challenges for radical change.
