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Patent system: Fit to fight global warming?
7 May 2008
Panel discussions at the European Patent Forum
"The patent system can foster innovation ... but then you'd better have a functioning patent system," the President of the European Patent Office Alison Brimelow said at the end of the European Patent Forum, a two-day event organised by the EPO, the government of Slovenia (which currently holds the EU Presidency), the Slovenian IP Office and the European Commission.
"The patent system is drifting toward disfunctionality," and thus needs reform, Brimelow said, "but I think we are also showing here that regulators are becoming less Olympian...and much more open to dialogue."
First conference on patenting and climate change
Moderated by the BBC's climate change expert Roger Harrabin, the forum brought together participants from 45 countries in Slovenia's capital Ljubljana, to discuss how the fields of patenting and IP could support innovations that benefit the environment and counteract climate change.
The second day kicked off with a series of speeches on the dangers of global warming and the implications for the IP rights sector. Thomas Homer-Dixon, a climate change expert from the University of Toronto, Canada, presented recent findings, which are far more worrisome than the ones used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report: Not only are the ice caps melting faster, but the year 2006 also saw record levels of man-made carbon emissions.
IP rights for the good of society
Thomas Homer-Dixon speaks in Ljubljana
Yvo de Boer has set quite a task himself over the past few years. As the UN's top official on climate change, de Boer oversees global negotiations to reach a post-Kyoto agreement, and thus, he sits between two fronts when it comes to technology transfer, a key element of getting developing nations on board in the struggle to curb climate change.
While industrialized nations claim the current IP rights system eases technology transfer, developed nations argue it is doing the exact opposite. "We need more clarity on where IP rights are a barrier to technology transfer, and where they are not," de Boer said.
Brimelow agreed strongly, saying that the barriers had to be identified, to be then done away with as quickly as possible. "There is no time," she said.
Reform proposals
Yvo de Boer addresses the European Patent Forum
Several speakers said, however, that the influence of the IP system is limited on eco-innovation.
"IP rules are important, but only part of the innovation mix," said Michelle Childs, a senior official at Knowledge Ecology International. There are a host of other things that factor into the issue of eco-innovation such as the role of governments, social norms and access to knowledge, she added.
But there are things the EPO can do. "We need to keep the quality high" said the EPO's Marcus Müller, who helped to develop the "Scenarios for the Future". And Brimelow added in her closing remarks, referencing remarks she had heard over the course of the two days: "If our backlogs are not coming under control...should we not consider mutual recognition?"
In the end, participants agreed that the EPO shouldered the difficult look into a mirror that aims for self-reflection in times of great and quickly changing challenges.
"This has been a very stimulating and open discussion," Brimelow said.
Further information
- EPO events: European Patent Forum 2008