Global Intellectual Property Rights Knowledge, Access and Development

Intellectual property rights such as patents can reduce access to knowledge in genetics, health, agriculture, education, and information technology, particularly for people in developing countries. Global Intellectual Property Rights shows how the new global rules of intellectual property have been the product of the strategic behavior of multinationals, rather than democratic dialogue. The final section of the book suggests strategies aimed at developing more flexible standard for poor countries, and for keeping knowledge in the intellectual commons.

Peter Drahos is at the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, Canberra.

Ruth Mayne is a Policy Adviser at Oxfam-GB.