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Introduction to the International Intellectual Property Legal Framework
The Intellectual Property Benchbook Series is a set of practical manuals on IP law and procedure to assist judges in adjudicating IP cases appearing before them in their own courts, as well as for readers interested in learning about judicial adjudication of IP disputes across jurisdictions. This is the first title of the Benchbook series, and introduces the international legal framework for IP, sharing WIPO's expertise and global perspective on the multilateral treaties that shape IP law in the areas of trademark, patent, copyright, and remedies.
Publication year: 2023
Directing innovation towards a low-carbon future
Economic Research Working Paper No. 72
Achieving the ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5°C to 2°C by the end of the century as enacted in the Paris Climate Agreement will require massive investments in environmental technologies and a forceful change of path away from high-carbon technologies. This report presents novel descriptive evidence on global trends in patenting in low-carbon technologies, with a particular focus on the energy and road transport sector. The analysis discusses the role of public policies in driving the rate and the direction of innovation for a low-carbon future.
Publication year: 2022
Innovations in the exploration of outer space
Economic Research Working Paper No. 71
Human exploration of outer space has stimulated multiple innovations from both government and private sources. The decision to invest vast sums of money over a short period of time for the moon programs of the 1960s radically increased the level of innovation. Accomplishing this required new forms of energy for launch and space operations, reductions in the weight of components, and advanced computational capabilities, among many other technological improvements. The organization and management of bringing all of the components together was also essential. This report discusses economic aspects and overall benefits of those innovations as they fit into the prior and continuing push for advanced space capabilities.
Second World War and the direction of medical innovation
Economic Research Working Paper No. 70
This paper provides an overview of the role of the United States of America (U.S.) Second World War research effort on the direction of innovation, with a particular focus on medical research. It provides an overview of the U.S. wartime research program, reviews quantitative evidence on the effects of the overall wartime research shock on postwar patenting, describes the wartime medical research effort, and summarizes case studies of five major wartime medical research programs (penicillin, antimalarials, vaccines, blood substitutes, and hormones) and their effects on postwar R&D. It concludes by drawing out implications for crisis innovation and the direction of innovation in general, discussing mechanisms through which crises may have long-run effects, and highlighting hypotheses warranting further investigation.
Direction of innovation in developing countries and its driving forces
Economic Research Working Paper No. 69
Innovation is a major driving force of long-term economic growth and sustainable development. Direction of innovation matters because technical change is not neutral and hence bears significant social, economic and environmental development implications. This paper contributes to the literature through a systematic examination of the direction of innovation in developing and emerging economies and its driving forces. It shows that innovation in the global South exhibits a vibrant and diverse landscape when we do not confine ourselves with traditional research and innovation indicators. While emerging economies are accelerating their pace in inventive activities in fields such as ICTs, biotech and engineering, low-income countries (LICs) are also found to be active in learning-based, incremental “under-the-radar innovations” (URIs). These URIs that are introduced through international technology transfer and indigenous innovative efforts. Indigenous sources of URIs play a primary role in LICs, contributed by localised learning-by-doing, close interaction with customers and embeddedness in regional production networks and clusters. However, insufficient role of the state, a low science and technology intensity and a lack of university-industry linkage limit the potential of URIs. International technology transfer is another important driver of technical change in developing countries. However, its strengthen varies across countries due to differences in host country policy, absorptive capacity, and the type of foreign economic engagement that they have as well as the inappropriateness of transferred foreign technologies mostly from Global North. Given the status of direction of innovation and its driving forces in developing countries, this report argues that the unfolding 4th industrial revolution poses both challenges and opportunities to LICs. Policy implications are discussed.
Calculating private and social returns to COVID-19 vaccine innovation
Economic Research Working Paper No. 68
What is the return to COVID-19 vaccine innovation? This paper seeks to quantify both private and social returns, using available data on commercialized vaccines and certain assumptions about the pandemic's epidemiological path as well as the economic costs of containment measures. The calculations reveal high returns to innovation. In the baseline scenario, the social benefit of vaccine innovation amounts to 70.5 trillion United States (U.S.) dollars globally, exceeding its private benefit by a factor of 887. The calculations bear on the private and public incentives to invest in vaccine innovation.
World Intellectual Property Report 2022: The Direction of Innovation
What is the direction of innovation? As the world looks to rebuild from the pandemic, innovation has a crucial role to play in opening up new growth possibilities and creating much needed solutions to the common challenges we face. Decisions on innovation may be complex, but, as this report highlights, it is vital that they are understood.
WIPO Collection of Leading Judgments on Intellectual Property Rights
Members of the African Intellectual Property Organization (1997-2018)
This casebook of selected judgments from the member states of the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) is the second volume in the WIPO Collection of Leading Judgments on Intellectual Property Rights. This collection gives the global intellectual property (IP) community access to landmark judgments from jurisdictions that are among the most dynamic litigation venues or whose jurisprudence is not readily available to an international audience, through a succession of volumes that illustrate IP adjudication approaches and trends by jurisdiction or by theme.
The Global Gender Gap in Innovation and Creativity: An International Comparison of the Gender Gap in Global Patenting over Two Decades
WIPO Development Studies
This report analyzes women's participation in international patent applications between 1999 and 2020 and finds that women are involved in only 23% of all applications, representing 13% of all inventors listed. Women's participation in patenting varies across regions, sectors, and industries, with higher representation in biotechnology, food chemistry, and pharmaceuticals, and lower in mechanical engineering. Women inventors are more prevalent in academia than in the private sector, and typically work in mostly-male teams or alone. Achieving gender parity will require significant effort, with an estimated target year of 2061 based on current trends.
The Global Publishing Industry in 2021
This report provides a global overview of the publishing industry in 2021, covering both trade and education. Data is compiled by WIPO in collaboration with Centro Regional para el Fomento del Libro en América Latina y el Caribe (CERLALC), the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), the International ISBN Agency, the International Publishers Association (IPA), and the Nielsen Company. The survey focuses on published materials with an ISBN or DOI. It aims to make industry data accessible and highlight challenges in reporting consistent data.