From cover to cover
According to the authors, in the area of intellectual property, the definition of what is appropriable vis-à-vis the products generated by regional agricultural research and technology innovation projects is becoming less of an internal legal issue and more a matter for international regulation.
The generation, by two or more countries, of regional public goods is the result of increased awareness on the part of international agencies of the fact that “problems and opportunities that are global in scope must be addressed jointly rather than individually,” says the document.
In Latin America specifically, reciprocal cooperation between countries in research and agricultural technology development goes back almost three decades, when the institutions of the countries began to work together via cooperative agriculture technology development programs (PROCIs) and other mechanisms such as FONTAGRO.
“While these cooperative programs, other similar mechanisms and FONTAGRO focus on the generation of public goods, it is also true that cooperative research activities yield new intermediate or finished products, innovations or processes that can be appropriated or protected by the participating public and private institutions,” it goes on to explain.
What is not clear, however, is under what circumstances such appropriation and protection can take place, who determines when it is possible, and what type of protection system is most appropriate.
Indeed, the document states “from a legal standpoint, the concepts of public, semi-public and private goods are highly imprecise.”
The document also calls attention to the need to determine how benefits are obtained and distributed, the use of the results of collaborative research vis-à-vis the rights of the participating institutions, and the systems for protecting regional products.
In light of existing international norms, the publication proposes that a clear distinction be made between what can be appropriated and what cannot from the perspective of intellectual property rights, and more broadly, between what can and cannot be protected, with special reference to the PROCIs, equivalent networks and FONTAGRO.
It also recommends developing strategies to raise awareness and build capabilities among researchers and innovators because “researchers and public-sector stakeholders, especially small- and medium-scale enterprises, require more information.”
It further recommends that, in the early stages of negotiating a regional agreement or a public-private partnership, what is protectable and the eventual distribution of results be clearly defined, and that at least two types of contracts be prepared: one for research and another for the commercial development of products or processes.
For more information, contact
enrique.alarcon@iica.int