Projects
Access to Knowledge (A2K) Treaty
For developing countries the coming century of knowledge-based growth raises several basic development priorities. One of these basic priorities is to think creatively about models of governance for the production of knowledge that maximise the participation of developing countries in the processes of innovation and the spillover benefits of knowledge, while minimising the social cost of accumulating knowledge. One strategy for meeting this priority is to establish a framework agreement that contains guiding principles on access to knowledge. Following a WIPO General Assembly decision to examine proposals for a development agenda put forward by Argentina and Brazil in 2004, an initiative to draft the text of a Treaty on Access to Knowledge is currently being led by a coalition of civil society actors coordinated by the Consumer Project on Technology (CPTech).
Researcher: Peter Drahos
Further information on Peter Drahos's proposal for a Treaty on Access to Knowledge (A2K):
2005: Drahos, P 'An Alternative Framework for the Global Regulation of Intellectual Property Rights' CGKD Working Paper No.1: October 2005, [forthcoming publication] Austrian Journal of Development Studies
2005: Drahos, P 'Access to Knowledge: Time for a Treaty?' BRIDGES, 9(4), 15-17
2004: Letter from Peter Drahos and John Braithwaite to Mr George Soros, Chairman, Open Society Institute and Soros Foundations Network
2003: Drahos, P 'The Global Intellectual Property Ratchet: Why it Fails as Policy and What Should be Done About It' Paper for the Open Society Institute
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Co-operative Intellectual Property Management and Technology Transfer for the Australian Biotechnology Industry
The Australian biotechnology industry rests on a framework of internationally competitive research and should be well placed to capture a significant share of expanding global markets. However, existing intellectual property management strategies do not make the most of this potential because they raise barriers to much-needed co-operation among industry players. By developing and refining new co-operative intellectual property management models in an Australian context, this project offers direct economic benefits (more efficient industry structures), improved social and economic benefits (better and cheaper biotechnology products and services), and an opportunity for Australia to take the lead in developing innovate approaches to IP management.
This project is funded by the Australian Research Council and the Australian National University. It commenced in July 2005.
Researchers: Janet Hope, Diane Nicol and John Braithwaite
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Genetic Sequence Right Project
The purpose of the Genetic Sequence Right Project is to formulate a sui generis alternative to the patent system with respect to technologies that involve either isolated biological materials or processes leading to the production of biological materials that are substantially identical to naturally occurring biological materials. The project seeks to provide a workable international solution to two issues:
1. The problems facing medical and scientific research, and increasingly biotechnology generally. These problems are caused principally by the formation of dense patent thickets. Many of the relevant technologies are research tools. Moreover, with the commercialisation of universities, the effectiveness of experimental use exemptions to adequately quarantine medical and scientific research from the threat of patent infringement is doubtful. Accordingly, the proliferation of patents over these technologies is threatening a principle objective of the patent system and one that justifies its very existence - the ability of scientists to use information about the natural world without interfering with patent rights.
2. The need to acknowledge and properly compensate traditional owners for the use of traditional knowledge in the research leading to the discovery of new and useful.
The purpose and nature of the Project is to facilitate the replacement of patents over ‘inventions’ of biological materials with a new intellectual property right, provisionally called a Genetic Sequence Right (GSR). The proposed right is designed to:
(a) enable the first person(s) to discover or identify a new and useful biological material to register the genetic sequence of that biological material together with a full description of the function and usefulness of the material on a free publicly accessible electronic database (GSR Register) to be administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or a newly created organization whose specific function will be to administer the GSR (GSR Administration);
(b) oblige the discoverer or identifier of the biological material to give full, proper and accurate attribution of the traditional knowledge (TK) and its owners (TK owners) leading directly or indirectly to the discovery of the biological material coming within the ambit of the GSR;
(c) allow anyone to make use of the biological material coming within the ambit of the GSR (GSR user) for any purpose, whether it be experimental or commercial, without the GSR holder being able to exercise control over that use or its ultimate research objective or to claim actual or beneficial ownership with respect to any product, method or process which may result from such use and any intellectual property attributable to such product, method or process;
(d) oblige GSR users to register their full details and particulars together with an explanation of the use they propose to make of the biological materials on the GSR Register;
(e) oblige GSR users to pay a GSR rental fee to the GSR Administration, with the amount dependant upon the nature of the proposed use (non-commercial or commercial) and the length of time of that use. The GSR fee collected by the GSR Administration will paid to the GSR holder less any collection and administration costs (which will be retained by the GSR Administration) and, if attributed, less an amount paid to the TK owners or their designated representatives as agreed, or in the absence of any agreement, as determined by the GSR Administration or by a court of competent jurisdiction;
(f) oblige GSR users to record on the GSR Register full particulars of (i) any product, method or process which may have resulted from use of the GSR and (ii) any intellectual property attributable to such product, method or product products;
(g) oblige GSR users to pay to the GSR holder (by way of the GSR fee) an amount which is fair, reasonable and commensurate to the contribution which the biological materials (being the subject of the GSR right) made to the resulting product, method or process as agreed or in the absence of an agreement, by the GSR Administration or by a court of competent jurisdiction; and
(h) allow TK owners or their designated representatives to bring before any court of competent jurisdiction a claim for proper attribution and compensation against any GSR holder and user.
Dr Luigi Palombi, director of this project, is also a member of MINDS (Multidisciplinary Inter-Institutional Network on Development Strategies). MINDS reflects the convergence among academic
trajectories, research interests,
policy-making experience and political
convictions of a group of individuals
concerned with the public dimensions
of intellectual and academic work.
He is also a member of the editorial board of RECIIS (Electronic Journal in Communication, Information, and Innovation in Health) which was launched in June 2007. RECIIS is an English and Portuguese language journal funded by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil and will be using the Open Journal Systems pioneered by the Public Knowledge Project of British Columbia University, Canada.
In July 2007, Luigi was invited to travel to Brazil to present at the University of the State of Amazonia. His presentation is now available in English or Portuguese:
'Equity For Traditional Owners, The Developing World And Intellectual Property'
'Eqüidade Para Proprietários Tradicionais, O Mundo Em Desenvolvimento E Propriedade Intelectual'
Researcher: Luigi Palombi
Publications: click here to view related publications
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Entrepreneurship, Power and Defiance: The Globalisation of the Fair Trade Movement
Anna is researching models of empowerment and how they operate at the transnational level, focusing specifically on fair trade and the fair trade movement. The fair trade movement has become increasingly successful and popular over the last decade, and is expanding rapidly in the marketplace through different models. This in-depth empirical research analyses how the movement's scale has been achieved, how threats of capture are dealt with by different actors, and the movement's future organisation and governance. Her research takes particular interest in the movement's pioneers and their innovations in commercial Fair Trade Organisations and brand companies, and the issue of governance in the movement's international associations. This research project furthers the important work of Professor Valerie Braithwaite's conceptual categories referred to collectively as 'defiance'. Anna's research derives these categories in her research, and utilises Braithwaite's conceptual framework to contribute a new theory of power. For this research, Anna spent several months during 2005 travelling and talking with an extensive number of individuals within the fair trade movement. She recently participated as an invited speaker at the " Fair Trade, Corporate Accountability and Beyond: Experiments in 'Globalising Justice'" conference in Melbourne. Click here to view Anna's presentation.
Researcher: Anna Hutchens
Principal supervisor: Peter Drahos
Working Papers:
Hutchens, A 'Mainstreaming Fair Trade: Fair trade brands & the problem of ownership' CGKD Working Paper [do not cite without author's permission], December 2007
Power, Entrepreneurship and Defiance: Empowerment through ‘free structures’
Networking Networks: how alternative regulatory models achieve scale
Global Agriculture: Promoting Trade Marks or Development?
A Question of Ownership: Power, Empowerment and Redistribution. Lessons from Fair Trade for a critical CSR Agenda
Governance as ‘Creative Destruction’: how networked governance forces the pace of economic change
Overcoming Symbolic Regulation through Market ‘Selection’: the role of deliberative networks and institutions in ‘Creative Destruction’
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Globalisation and Health: The Impact of International Trade Agreements on the Regulation and Provision of Medicines in Australia
This Project investigates the impact of international trade agreements (including the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement) on the regulation of and access to medicines in Australia. The Project investigates the relevant experience of USA, Canada, Brazil and Thailand through a comparative case method.
This project is funded by the Australian Research Council and the Australian National University. It commenced in January 2005.
Researchers: Tom Faunce, Peter Drahos, David Henry, Warwik Neville, Andrew Searles (PhD Scholar)
Publications:
Faunce, TA, Doran, E, Henry, D Drahos, P, Pekarsky, B Neville, W and Searles, A (2005) 'Assessing the impact of the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement on Australian and global medicines policy' Globalization and Health, 1:15, 6 Oct
Faunce, TA [2005] 'Impacts of Medical Technology Inquiry', Submission to the Productivity Commission's (see submission PR 60: Australian National University)
Faunce, TA [2005] 'Reflections on international cost-effectiveness pricing of pharmaceuticals', CGKD Working Paper
Faunce, TA [2005] 'Pharmaceutical Innovation in the AUSFTA: Implications for Public Health Policy in the US and Australia', CGKD Working Paper
Faunce, TA [2005] 'United Kingdom House of Commons on the Pharmaceutical Industry: Lessons for Protecting Cost Effectiveness Pricing', CGKD Working Paper
Drahos, P (2004) 'Intellectual Property and Pharmaceutical Markets: A Nodal Governance Approach' Temple Law Review, 77(2): 401–424 [note: this pdf version is uncorrected proofs and may contain errors]
Drahos, P, Lokuge, B, Faunce, T, Goddard, M & Henry, D (2004) 'Pharmaceuticals, Intellectual Property and Free Trade: The Case of the US–Australia Free Trade Agreement' Prometheus 22(3): 243–257
Presentations:
Faunce, TA [2005] 'Impact of the AUSFTA on Medicines Policy in Australasia', Presentation at Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law, Wellington, August 2005
Neville, W [2005] 'Patient Rights or Patent Rites: Justice and a Jurisprudence of Health - Patent Law, Health Care and Access to Essential Medicines' Presentation at
Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture Symposium,
National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 17 June
Faunce, TA [2005] 'Teaching Cost-Effectiveness', Lecture Outline for Medical School, ANU
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Implementing a ‘Governance for Development’ System in Australia and New Zealand
Since mid 2003, the newly formed Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand has been working to implement the FLO Fairtrade Certification system in both countries. This has involved developing local institutions and processes to set policy, interface with the international system, license local companies, manage the use of the Fairtrade Certification Mark, and undertake verification activities to ensure the integrity of the Label and enforce its consumer guarantee. Alongside the establishment of necessary structures, education of companies and consumers about the Fairtrade Certification Label and system has helped drive sustained growth in consumption of Fairtrade goods in Australian and New Zealand markets.
Using an action research framework, the implementation of the Fairtrade Certification system provides insight in to various aspects of ‘governance for development’, including the challenges of translating complex standards and verification systems in to simple consumer-oriented branding. Further work will look at brand awareness and understanding of the Fairtrade Certification system amongst Australian and New Zealand consumers, the attitudes and experiences of companies participating in the Fairtrade Certification system (e.g. motivation for initial involvement, challenges and learning from participation, impact on business management systems and customer base) and development impacts of Fairtrade for participating producer groups in developing countries.
Researcher: Cameron Neil
Presentations:
Neil, C [2005] 'Fairtrade Certification: Linking Sustainable Production and Consumption' at the 6th Asia Pacific Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production, October, Melbourne
Neil, C [2005] 'Sustainable Consumption and Fair Trade' Sustainable Communities Lecture, University of Canberra, 18 August
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International Trade, Innovation and Population Health
This project analyses the linkages between the global trade system, pharmaceutical innovation and population health. Specifically the project will examine the impact of trade commitments on the drivers of pharmaceutical innovation, the level of competition in the sector, and the determinants of population health. Additionally, CGKD researchers Lokuge, Drahos, Henry, Faunce and Doran, work with national governments and NGOs to implement the findings of their research on trade and health through the consulting arm of the consortium, MedAccess International.
Researcher: Buddhima Lokuge
Principal supervisor: Peter Drahos
Publications:
Lokuge, B, Drahos, P & Neville, W (2005) 'Pandemics, antiviral stockpiles and biosecurity in Australia: What about the generic option?', Medical Journal of Australia, 26 October
Lokuge, B & Drahos, P [2005] 'Patent monopolies, pandemics and antiviral stockpiles: Things that developing and developed countries can do', CGKD Working Paper, August 2005
Lokuge, B, Lokuge, K [2005] 'Avian Influenza, World Food Trade and WTO Rules: The Economics of Transboundary Disease Control', CGKD Working Paper, July
Presentations:
Lokuge, B [2005] 'Valuing Health: The Politics of Health Care and Population Health', Dean's Lecture Series, Medical School, The Australian National Univeristy, 26 September
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Multilevel Governance of Agricultural Resources: Access and Intellectual Property at International, Regional and National levels
This project analyses the governance structures and regulatory tools employed at different levels (international, regional, and national) to control access, use and intellectual property of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) and associated knowledge. The dynamics of the different levels are illustrated through the study of the major international legal agreements related to biodiversity resources and intellectual property, the corresponding regional body of law and institutions at the Andean Community of Nations, and their national counterparts in the Andean countries of Bolivia , Colombia and Peru .
At national level the analysis looks at the implementation of rules and policies on access and intellectual property of PGRFA and how it impacts upon the working dynamics of agricultural stakeholders: farmers, plant researchers and seed companies. Moreover, the research aims to uncover the regulatory mechanisms and strategies (legal, social, economic) that national and local actors use for controlling and managing agricultural resources.
Informed by property, governance and regulatory theory and general body of literature in these areas, the research looks at how varied and sometimes conflicting conceptions of property gain expression in rules and norms devised for the regulation of agricultural resources at regional and national levels. This aspect is supported by evidence gathered through interviews with policy makers, farmers, plant scientists, and seed and food processing companies in the three Andean countries studied.
The research aims at suggesting some key elements for the improvement of a governance framework of agricultural resources and associated knowledge especially in the context of biodiversity-rich developing countries, where conservation, sustainable use of resources and the delivery of appropriate benefits to PGRFA stakeholders is a must.
Researcher: Carolina Roa-Rodriguez (PhD Scholar)
Principal supervisor: Peter Drahos
Advisors: Andrew Christie (IPRIA, University of Melbourne) and Judith Jones (Faculty of Law, ANU)
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National and Regional Patent Administration in Small to Medium-Sized States in the Global Economy
Patents and patent administration are key to the rules of the game in the knowledge economy. The study will analyse how a group of smaller national patent offices including Australia's are responding to the agenda of patent harmonization that is being led by the US, European and Japanese patent offices. The work of patent offices within the APEC, ASEAN and the Pacific Island Forum (for example, NZ, Fiji and China) will be the subject of fieldwork and analysis.
This project is funded by the Australian Research Council, IP Australia, the Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia and the Australian National University. It commenced in December 2004.
Researchers: Peter Drahos and Janet Werner, IP Australia
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NEPAD: Promoting Foreign Direct Investment in Africa
The research looks at the role of leadership in promoting investor confidence in Africa.
Researcher: Zein Kebonang (PhD Scholar)
Principal supervisor: Peter Drahos
Publications: (2005) 'NEPAD: Promoting FDI through Good Leadership', Africa Insight Journal.
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Standards Development Organisations and Knowledge Governance
This project is aimed at examining standards development organisations (SDOs) as gatekeepers for certain kinds of technical and allied knowledge. Ironically, perhaps, there is no ‘rule of recognition’ for SDOs or any proper definition of the roles that they can or do play and, so, an initial part of the work will involve developing a comprehensive framework for classification of SDOs. Thereafter, the project will examine:
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the internal organisation of SDOs
- formal sources of information going to knowledge (e.g. scientific and technical papers)
- informal sources of information going to knowledge (e.g. background expertise of Committee members)
- SDO policies controlling through-flows of information going to knowledge
- the effect of all the above on knowledge governance issues within the standards community and
- the effect of all the above on knowledge governance issues for the public at large
Researcher: Gary Lea
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The Sustainable Use of Australia's Biodiversity: Transfer of Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property
Australia's capacity to gain benefits from its biological resources depends on the design of the patent system and various groups trusting the system. This project aims to:
a) see if ways can be found to encourage Australia's indigenous groups to share their knowledge of Australia's biodiversity, especially in ways that promote long-term trust in the process of knowledge diffusion
b) examine the impact of the international patent system upon Australia's ability to exploit its native and natural biological materials and resources, and
c) analyze the policy agenda of the biologically diverse rich countries and relate this to Australia's interests.
This project involves research in aspects of business regulation, trade, development and intellectual property.
Researchers: Peter Drahos and Luigi Palombi
Presentations: Palombi, L [2008] Presentation at Australian & New Zealand IP Teachers Conference, Victoria University Law School, Wellington, New Zealand, 'TK & IP - Where are we and where are we going?', 25 January 2008.
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