Debate on Intellectual Property

Based on the economic history of the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and other nations, the borrowing of ideas – and the making of improvements upon them – is essential to building strong domestic industries. Each of these countries owes a great deal of its economic success today to earlier eras in which foreign patents, copyrights, and trademarks received little or no protection. Now, however, the US seems to have forgotten that period of its history and is pushing for strong protections on intellectual property rights through the World Trade Organization. Opponents of this US position contend that poorer countries struggling to grow their economies need time and freedom to borrow from the achievements in technology, medicine, and other fields in which rich countries excel. While some concessions have been made – in AIDS medications, for example – the global debate on rights and protections is far from over. – YaleGlobal