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AbstractThe current debate over the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines once again highlights the many shortcomings of the modern intellectual property (IP) system, especially when it comes to equitable access to medicines. This essay argues that the (unspoken) conceptual center of struggles over access to new pharmaceuticals rests in the IP system's colonial legacy, which perceives the world as uncharted territory that is ripe for discovery and ownership. This vision of the world as a blank canvas, or terra nullius, sets aside any other models of ownership and devalues other traditional modes of relating to territory and nature. Several examples show the long-lasting exclusionary effects of this hidden legacy of colonial conquest in the field of public health, ranging from the spiraling price of insulin to the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to the negotiation of sharing mechanisms for virus samples. In all of these cases, the continuing marginalization of other interests by the IP system can lead to exploitation, without either the "sources" of materials, such as those from whom the samples were taken, or the recipients of the eventual product having any say in matters of price and access. This legacy of fundamental exclusion needs to be recognized and addressed in order to arrive at more equitable solutions to public health emergencies such as the current pandemic.

The article deals with the economic and social effects of intellectual property crimes. The author understands the social effects of intellectual property crimes as negative and dangerous changes in public relations that result of a numerous infringements of intellectual property rights. These consequences include both the aggregate damages of the intellectual property rights holders from crimes against intellectual property and the damage caused to the state and society. The study found that accumulating negative impact on society from the functioning of the intellectual property crimes is the state of intellectual property rights insecurity, which impedes the normal development of social relations regarding the realization of intellectual property rights. The social impact of intellectual property crimes is divided into four major interrelated blocks: socio-economic, scientific, technical, international and political, and consequences for a wide range of consumers. Socio-economic consequences include direct and indirect material damage from functioning in the community intellectual property crimes. Scientific and technical implications include the damage to science and technology due to the existence of intellectual property crimes. International political implications undermine the image of the international arena due to the functioning of the phenomenon of intellectual property crimes. Consequences for a wide range of consumers are manifested in the detriment of certain interests of consumers of intellectual products.

Patents differ from other forms of intellectual property in that independent invention is not a defence to infringement. We argue that the patent rule is inferior in any industry where the cost of independently inventing a product is not too much less than (no less than half) the inventor's cost. First, the threat of entry by independent invention would induce patent holders to license the technology, lowering the market price. Second, a defence of independent invention would reduce the wasteful duplication of R&D effort that occurs in patent races. In either case, the threat of independent invention creates a mechanism that limits patent‐holders' profits to levels commensurate with their costs of R&D.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the moderating effect of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection on the relationship between migrants and competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachThis study explores how IPR protection in the sending country stimulates domestic competitiveness by creating the right environment for migrants who want to return to their home country.FindingsThe authors found that IPR protection has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between migrants and competitiveness. This impact decreases as the technology of the home country approaches frontier technology. Focusing on female migrants, the authors find that this impact exists and exhibits a U-shaped relationship over the course of economic development.Originality/valueFirst, this is the first empirical analysis focusing on the influence of returned emigrants on competitiveness. Second, the moderating effect of IPR varies with economic development. Third, this study focuses on female migrants and finds that there is an impact, and this impact exhibits a U-shaped relationship over the course of economic development.

In this paper we study theoretically and empirically the role of the interaction between skilled migration and intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection in determining innovation in developing countries (South). We show that although emigration from the South may directly result in the well-known concept of brain drain, it also causes a brain gain effect, the extent of which depends on the level of IPRs protection in the sending country. We argue this to come from a diaspora channel through which the knowledge acquired by emigrants abroad can flow back to the South and enhance the skills of the remaining workers there. By increasing the size of the innovation sector and the skill-intensity of emigration, IPRs protection makes it more likely for diaspora gains to dominate, thus facilitating a potential net brain gain. Our main theoretical insights are then tested empirically using a panel dataset of emerging and eveloping countries. The findings reveal a positive correlation between emigration and innovation in the presence of strong IPRs protection.

This report contains intellectual property rights and different law such as: Patent Law, copyright law, and International IPR Protection.

This article discusses proposed legislative changes which aim to introduce a special court into the Polish court system to handle intellectual property matters. The main reason for establishing such a court is, undoubtedly, the quite specific nature of proceedings regarding intangible property rights in a broad sense. The bill is part of a vast exercise to amend civil procedure law, but, to a large extent, has an impact on the substantive provisions of Industrial Property Law and the Act on Copyright and Related Rights. A number of the proposed solutions should, therefore, have a consistent influence on intellectual property laws and contribute to increasing the quality of adjudication. A substantial portion of the doctrinal considerations addressed in this article are, however, about selected issues related to new laws on remedies available in intellectual property law proceedings. In particular, they include provisions which enable the disclosure of information on intellectual property right violations. The issue of information disclosure requests has already provoked many reactions, mostly critical, with respect to the current legislation. Therefore, examining the proposed change is all the more justified as it may provide an answer to whether the uncertainties associated with applying this construct will continue to exist.

This work investigates the relationship between proxies of innovation activities, such as patents and trademarks, and firm performance in terms of revenues and growth. By resorting to the virtual universe of Italian manufacturing firms we provide a rather complete picture of the innovation activities of Italian firms, in terms of patents and trademarks, and we study whether the two instruments for protecting Intellectual Property (IP) exhibit complementarity or substitutability. In addition, and to our knowledge novel, we propose a measure of concordance (or proximity) between the patents and trademarks owned by the same firm and we then investigate whether such concordance appears to exert any effect on performance.