Twist in the TRIPS tale

proponents of the global intellectual property rights (ipr) system have long claimed that patents and copyrights are essential for promoting innovation. Pharmaceutical companies, for instance, will think twice about investing millions in research for new drugs if they are not assured of making economic gains from a monopoly on the production of their invention. But iprs, as defined and governed mostly by the World Trade Organisation's (wto) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (trips), are equally staunchly opposed. The detractors mainly comprise developing countries, which claim that intellectual property rules are written to benefit the rich and are against the interests of the poor.

It is this view that has recently received unequivocal support from an unexpected quarter. In May 2001, Clare Short, the uk secretary of state for international development, brought together six experts from the uk, the us, Argentina and India to form an independent Commission on Intellectual Property Rights (cipr). The panel was set up to explore whether the existing rules of ipr can promote development and reduce poverty. In a report released in September, the commission was clear in its verdict: iprs benefit those who have knowledge and inventive power (mostly rich countries), while increasing the costs of access for those without (poor countries). In other words, it notes that the balance of cost and benefits is strongly tilted in favour of industrialised, technologically advanced nations.

Intellectual property rights can do little to stimulate innovations in developing countries that lack the required technological and human capacity. However, they do end up increasing the cost of medicines and agricultural inputs for the poor. In this regard, the report describes developing countries as "second comers' in a world shaped to cater to the interests of the industrialised "first comers'. Maintaining its plainspoken tenor, the document advises developing countries to either mould the ipr system to suit their economic, social and technological conditions, or