[A2k] Re: Patent regimes and innovation in developing countries, request for comments

Mon Nov 16 09:15:38 2009

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Excuse my english however, I hope I can make myself clear

On top of Chris point I will like to provide 2 other discussion elements

1. The knowledge building especially in develpoing countries,  can not
always be related to individual logics (as the patents system) and many
times is the result of broader communitiy knowledges, that are not into (an=
d
should be kept away from)  the patents scheme
2. Not only to "register" a patent is expensive, to follow it and request
the protection is also expensive, the protection is given country by
country...

So, if one concludes that patent is not really the right juridical system t=
o
apply, one can think that also not protecting it can be another way of
respecting the "otbers" point of view. Let me explain it with an example,
Regarding traditional knowledge there are some strategies being implemented
in latinamerica that are supported on the  building of data bases with the
specific traditional knowledge that they want to protec from patents. These
data bases are not open to the public in general and are guarded by some
sort of authority, The idea in this case is to build the state of the art
prescedent so that if this knowledge is being patented anywhere the sole
protection is to contest the patent requested because of previous
developments and state of the art, having one decision that recognices this
prescedent will be enought to contest others elsewhere. THe purpose as you
may see is to guard the commons and keep the knowledge open as it was
originally built, there are still things to work on here but it is an
interesting logic that might help to think on alternative solutions to
patents.

My personal opinion is that it is a mistake to continue strengthening paten=
t
regimes especially in developing countries and it is a bigger mistake to do
it on behalf of their people because you can not prove that it will benefit
us, The truth is that the system has provided benefits so far to developed
countries and big multinationals, the system is really designed for a
developed countries and further developments to apply it  indiscriminatedly
(sure this is not the word but you might be able to understand the meaning)
will produce more harm especially to those that are in a  weaker position
facing the system... this will need more details but I believe it is enough=
t
so far

Carolina

On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 12:26 AM, Chris Watkins <
chriswaterguy@appropedia.org> wrote:

> we were called upon to advocate the
>> strengthening of patent regimes in developing countries
>>
>
> Another obvious issue is cost - patents in most countries take a lot of
> time and money and are out of the reach of most small and non-commercial
> innovators.
>
> Anil Gupta and his Honey Bee network<http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/aboutus.=
php>are likely to have some insights on patents - they support grassroots
> innovators in India (and maybe elsewhere).
>
> Chris
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 04:39, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004@gmail.com>wr=
ote:
>
>> I'm forwarding this request to the open-manufacturing list, and in a
>> separate message, to the p2p research list,
>>
>> Michel
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 12:11 AM, Silke Helfrich <Silke.Helfrich@gmx.de>=
wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>> I received the e-mail below from the European Business Council on
>>> Sustainable Energy, an organization I work with on the commons. They ar=
e
>>> quite innovative (f.i. linking the energy debate with the open hardware
>>> discussion). I don't dare to respond, since I am not an expert in the f=
ield.
>>> It would be great to get some advice from people who are better informe=
d
>>> than I am.
>>> Some links and current data would help, in English and German, your
>>> opinion as well, of course.
>>>
>>> Best regards and many thanks in advance
>>> Silke Helfrich
>>>
>>>
>>> Am Mittwoch, den 11.11.2009, 17:56 +0100 schrieb Julio Lambing:
>>>
>>> Dear Ms. Helfrich,
>>>
>>>
>>> As you know, the European Business Council for Sustainable Energy is
>>> concerned with the question how eco-innovation, carbon-neutral and clea=
n
>>> energy technologies can gain a foothold in developing countries.
>>> Therefore, for some time past* we devote ourselves to initiating an Ope=
n**Source Hardware Initiative including a database for these technologies**=
which is to employ a model similar to the GNU (GPL) license.*
>>> At one of our workshops, the representative of a major technology
>>> company pointed out that in various structurally weak developing
>>> countries there is no effective protection of "intellectual property".
>>> Thus, ruthless trend scouts can spot innovative inventions in these
>>> countries (e.g. in Afirca and make them available to companies
>>> in industrialised and threshold countries without sharing the benefits
>>> with the innovators. Therefore, we were called upon to advocate the
>>> strengthening of patent regimes in developing countries (with financial
>>> and juridical support by industrialised countries) in order to safeguar=
d
>>> a just compensation for these innovators or communities.
>>>
>>> We are no experts regarding the question if and how patent regimes are
>>> effective in developing countries for local innovators and SMEs.
>>> Therefore, we address you as an adept of the international discussion o=
n
>>> this topic.
>>>
>>> In general, for years there is a discussion on whether patents are an
>>> obstacle or a catalyst for the transfer of climate-friendly
>>> technologies. At the international climate negotiations, speakers from
>>> developing countries deplore the role of patents as an obstacle to the
>>> diffusion of climate-friendly technologies. We, as representatives of
>>> companies providing these technologies, are sceptical. Most
>>> carbon-neutral technologies are not patent relevant any longer, and
>>> there are providers of these technologies from developing countries in
>>> the market as well, so there is no monopoly. Furthermore, the main
>>> obstacle for employing climate-friendly technologies in developing
>>> countries are lack of investment capital and lack of know-how regarding
>>> available technologies and their maintenance. Patent-related problems w=
e
>>> could only identify concerning corrosion protection for offshore
>>> windparks, the second generation of biofuels, CCS technology and,
>>> perhaps, some recent developments in the sphere of photovoltaics. We
>>> represent a considerable number of green companies which fought long an=
d
>>> hard for their technologies and deem it unfair that, of all things,
>>> these technologies are drawn into the patent debate -- in contrast to
>>> those which polluted the Earth for decades. (Nevertheless, we deem it
>>> important to further eco-innovation on a voluntary base employing a tru=
e
>>> Open Source approach. Support, also financial support, would always be
>>> welcome ;-)  )
>>>
>>> Innovative climate protection technologies will be sought-after economi=
c
>>> goods in the future. What is your estimate regarding the status quo of
>>> the international discussion on the strengthening of patent regimes in
>>> developing countries - or, rather, mechanisms for safeguarding
>>> compensation for innovations like "access and benefit sharing (ABS)"
>>> discussed in the biodiversity debate?
>>>
>>> Please feel free to forward these questions to other experts.
>>> Thanks a lot for your help and best regards
>>>
>>> Julio Lambing
>>>
>>> Managing Director
>>> e5 - European Business Council for Sustainable Energy
>>>
>>> Hauptstrasse 43
>>> D-61184 Karben
>>> Germany
>>> Fon: +49 6039 9291958
>>> Fax: +49 6039 9291961lambing@e5.org
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University - Research=
:
>> http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html - Think thank:
>> http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
>>
>> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.ne=
t
>>
>> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
>> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
>>
>> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
>> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Chris Watkins
>
> Appropedia.org - Sharing knowledge to build rich, sustainable lives.
>
> blogs.appropedia.org
> identi.ca/appropedia
> twitter.com/appropedia
>

--
http://www.karisma.org.co/carobotero
http://twitter.com/carobotero
http://identi.ca/carobotero/
http://www.equinoxio.org