Intellectual property, the developing countries and economic development

There is widespread interest in the subject of intellectual property these days, following the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement. Debates and discussions are taking place in various fora, but are handicapped by lack of information on the nature, importance, relevance and role of intellectual property rights and their protection.

Apart from the compulsions of the GATT Agreement, the subject calls for attention in the context of the economic reforms, which seek to integrate our economy with that of the rest of the world. Such integration is possible only through technological development, which, in turn, calls for innovation and invention. The growth of innovation and invention in a society depends a great deal on the system of intellectual property rights and their protection.

With a view to providing the basis for informed discussion on a subject of such great import to us, RGICS invited Shri Shahid Alikhan, a distinguished civil servant, who was until recently Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), to write a comprehensive paper on intellectual property - the different kinds of such property, the importance of patent information, of a national patent system and its role in promoting economic development and growth.