The Myth of Development, The Progress of Rights

Human Rights to Intellectual Property and Development

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6090792
AutoresRuth L Gana (autor correspondente)
Ano1996
Volume18
Fascículo2-3
Páginas315-354
Data de publicação1996-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoLaw & Policy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0265-8240 • E-ISSN: 1467-9930
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9930.1996.tb00175.x
OpenAlexW2024872052
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas27

Of all the various programs and policies formulated in an attempt to find a quick route to modernization, none has been as detrimental to the development process in Africa as technology transfer from developed countries. The process of technology transfer was facilitated by the international intellectual property system which enabled owners of intellectual goods in developed countries to control access by developing countries to technology while also exacting from these countries huge transaction costs and licensing fees. African countries, as other developing countries, participated in the international intellectual property system in part because indigenous innovation and economic growth were promised fruits of intellectual property protection as evidenced by the experience of the Western Hemisphere. The recognition of intellectual property rights by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights gave legitimacy to the efforts of developed countries and international institutions to encourage developing countries to recognize intellectual property rights and to join the international intellectual property system. However, after more than three decades of experimenting with Western‐styled intellectual property laws and an inordinate emphasis on technology from developed countries as an agent of development, African countries remain mired in the trenches of underdevelopment. This article looks at the failed promise of intellectual property systems in developing countries in general, with Africa as its specific concern. The author argues that the human right to intellectual property must be understood in context with the right to development and self‐determination. Such an approach would delegitimize the myth of a universally valid intellectual property system and protect the right of developing countries to establish intellectual property regimes that reflect their unique socioeconomic and cultural norms and that are consistent with development objectives. Nevertheless, the author insists that nothing short of a comprehensive economic and social reform package nurtured and implemented in a politically stable environment under the rule of law will release Africa's potential for development

Business · Context (archaeology · Developing country · Economic growth · Economics · Human rights · Intellectual property · International trade · Law and economics · Political science · Right to development · Underdevelopment · Human Rights and Development · Intellectual Property and Patents · Law · Legal Issues in South Africa