"This collection of essays provides a state-of-the-art analysis of intellectual property rights issues in two frontier industries, software and biotechnology. It is the result of an AEI-Brookings Joint Center conference held on April 30, 2004." -- from the Preface, p. ix.

The first report in a new flagship series, WIPO Technology Trends, aims to shed light on the trends in innovation in artificial intelligence since the field first developed in the 1950s.

In todays world, we live with the notion that economic health and firm competitiveness are closely tied. Innovation and creativity play a significant role in achieving economic, social, and technological advancement, contributing to a nation's prosperity and leading to job growth for a country. Industries can capitalize on economic benefits through the development and commercialization of innovative products. This also works for consumers, who prefer to purchase safe, guaranteed products, believing that the IP rights of the products are worth protecting both nationally and internationally. The topics covered in this book include an "Introduction to Intellectual Property Rights," "Patenting in the Pharmaceutical Industry," "Towards More Inclusive IP Analysis by Frontier Tools," "Patent Data in Economic Analysis," "How to Elaborate and Interpret an Expert Report on the Design Area," and "Host-Country Patenting and Inventorship in Emerging Countries."

The convergence of various fields of technology is changing the fabric of society. Big data and data mining, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and blockchains are already affecting business models and leading to a social and economic transformations that have been dubbed by the fourth industrial revolution. Focusing on the framework of intellectual property rights, the contributions to this book analyse how the technical background of this massive transformation affects intellectual property law and policy and how intellectual property is likely to change in order to serve the society. Well-known authorities in intellectual property law offer in-depth chapters on the roles in this revolution of such concepts and actualities as the following: power and role of data as the raw material of the revolution; artificial inventors and creators; trade marks in the dimension of avatars and fictional game characters; concept of inventive step change where the person skilled in the art is virtual; data rights versus intellectual property rights; transparency in the context of big data; interrelations of data, technology transfer and antitrust; self-executable and ‘smart’ contracts; redefining the balance among exclusive rights, development, technology transfer and contracts; and proprietary information versus the public domain. The chapters also provide complete analyses of how big data changes decision-making processes, how sustainable development requires redefinition, how technology transfer is re-emerging as technology diffusion and how the role of contracts and blockchain as instruments of monitoring and enforcement are being defined. Offering the first in-depth legal commentary and analysis of this highly topical issue, the book approaches the fourth industrial revolution from the perspectives of technical background, society and law. Its authoritative analysis of how the data-driven economy influences innovation and technology transfer is without peer. It will be welcomed by practicing lawyers in intellectual property rights and competition law, as well as by academics, think tanks and policymakers.

For most countries, economic development involves 'catching up' with leading countries. This needs more than physical assets and labour: it requires technological capabilities, educational attainment, entrepreneurship, and development of the necessary institutional infrastructure, including intellectual property rights, particularly patents.

"This book analyses the impact of diverse intellectual property rights (IPR) regimes upon the development process". -- PAGE [1].

As technological developments multiply around the globeâ€"even as the patenting of human genes comes under serious discussionâ€"nations, companies, and researchers find themselves in conflict over intellectual property rights (IPRs). Now, an international group of experts presents the first multidisciplinary look at IPRs in an age of explosive growth in science and technology. This thought-provoking volume offers an update on current international IPR negotiations and includes case studies on software, computer chips, optoelectronics, and biotechnologyâ€"areas characterized by high development cost and easy reproducibility. The volume covers these and other issues: Modern economic theory as a basis for approaching international IPRs. U.S. intellectual property practices versus those in Japan, India, the European Community, and the developing and newly industrializing countries. Trends in science and technology and how they affect IPRs. Pros and cons of a uniform international IPRs regime versus a system reflecting national differences.

Patent holders are increasingly making voluntary, public commitments to limit the enforcement and other exploitation of their patents. The best-known form of patent pledge is the so-called FRAND commitment, in which a patent holder commits to license patents to manufacturers of standardized products on terms that are “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory.” Patent pledges have also been appearing in fields well beyond technical standard-setting, including open source software, green technology and the biosciences. This book explores the motivations, legal characteristics and policy goals of these increasingly popular private ordering tools.