Intellectual Property, Innovation and Management in Emerging Economies
Intellectual Property, Innovation and Management in Emerging Economies, Edited by Ruth Taplin and Alojzy Z. Nowak, Routledge, 2010, ISBN10:0-415-55960-X, £85
This thought-provoking book argues that a country’s development of a robust intellectual property rights (IPRs) framework is fundamental to long-term economic success in today’s globalized world. This is something not just vital for high-tech states like Japan and the USA but is also in fact absolutely crucial for newly emerging economies. Many of these rising stars have substantive reserves of natural resources and commodities along with a vast array of human knowledge which often have inadequate or no IPR protection. In an increasingly globalized economy this deficiency can impede growth and result in valuable revenue losses.
Packed full of fascinating case studies, this absorbing book graphically illustrates how an underdeveloped IPR framework can be a significant economic disadvantage. To take just one example, Kenya lost out to Japan in an IP dispute over a traditional Kenyan basket called a kiondo. This is a local hand-woven craft which became popular with foreign tourists in the 1980s. Whilst it is undoubtedly an indigenous traditional handcraft, Nairobi lost out to Tokyo in the intellectual property ownership battle over the name kiondo because it had already been registered as a trade mark in Japan. Consequently, it is reported that Kenya’s kiondo makers now have to pay Japan to use the name (page 51).
The clear message from this cutting-edge book is that it is essential for developing nations to improve their IPR frameworks, something every author in an emerging economy highlighted in the book acknowledges (for example see page 125 on Turkey). However, this is no one-way street, major world economies are also increasingly relying on the up-and-coming players to improve their IPR game, in fact Japan and the United States are dependent on emerging economies developing good IPR enforcement as without it they cannot protect their own intellectual property. For Japan this is especially true as how IPR enforcement develops in China and the region as a whole will have a significant impact on Tokyo’s own future economic fortunes.
The book further argues that there is an important symbiotic relationship between developed and emerging economies that can actually be measured in terms of the levels of intellectual property (IP) activity and economic development. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are defined in this work as rights protected by the rule of law under an independent, fair and transparent judicial system. Such an IPR milieu creates the conditions necessary for a vibrant, innovative sector within which companies know their R&D investments are protected. This type of environment leads to economic benefits for society as a whole and according to this work attaining this level of IPR management is a key component in sustaining the success of countries like Japan. Tokyo has one of the world’s top rates for patent registration and Japan is singled out as offering a good IPR model for emerging economies to emulate.
In the first chapter Professor Ruth Taplin provides an overall theoretical framework along with models for understanding the featured case studies and changes highlighted in each of the subsequent chapters. The case studies in each chapter indicate that new emerging economies are gradually realising the importance of robust IPR frameworks. To illustrate this point a plethora of examples are provided from all over the world, including Eastern Europe (see Chapter 5 “The Financial Crisis, Intellectual Property and Prospects for Recovery: the Case of Poland, Central and Eastern Europe” by Alojzy Nowak), Africa (see Chapter 3 by Nthabisheng Phaswana and Dario Tanziani) and there are several examples from across Asia.
Asian countries are especially well represented in the book with five excellent cases studies focusing on China (see Chapter 2 by Bernard Arogyaswamy and Lisa Dolak), India (“Socio Economic changes Effected by Intellectual Property Rights – the Indian perspective by Mohan Dewan” in Chapter 6), Taiwan (see Chapter 8 by Chyi Yih- Luan), Turkey (in Chapter 7 by Erhun Kula and Selin Ozoguz) and Thailand (in Chapter 4 by Akio Nishizawa). These case studies are analysed within the theoretical context of cross-border IP which according to this work is something that is gradually becoming a global reality.
The editors, Professors Ruth Taplin and Alojzy Nowak, must be commended for having gathered together an impressive line-up of experts in the field and practising IP lawyers. They methodically test the limits of the current and new IPR models being tried out in their respective emerging economies. The book’s eight stimulating chapters illuminate the global economic relationship between intellectual property rights and economic development. Each chapter also clearly demonstrates through a variety of models how different emerging economies are at various levels of improving and enhancing their IPR frameworks and what trajectories they are likely to follow in order to advance forward.
This is a substantive work which furnishes us with a much needed comprehensive assessment of the paths emerging economies are taking to enforce, innovate and defend their IPR frameworks. It also analyzes the current evolving IPR management dynamics in the global context. This work is essential reading for anyone wanting to properly understand the emerging global and regional trends in intellectual property rights management.