The impact of stronger intellectual property rights on science and technology in developing countries

This paper identifies some effects of the global trend towards stronger protection of intellectual property rights on developing countries, and traces related debates. Pharmaceutics, biodiversity and ethnic knowledge are critical areas of impact. ‘Trade-relating’ intellectual property might allow developing countries to be compensated, but incentive implementation of optimal compensation in the legislatures seems infeasible. Scientific communities in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to limitations of cooperation and access to information, resulting from stronger intellectual property rights protection, as their efforts to obtain normal science results must be considerable. Consequences of the Bayh-Dole Act and of the patenting of research tools on international scientific cooperation are analysed in this context.