Ending patents won’t help the poor

by Tim Wilson, November 10, 2009

Since the Bali 2007 UNFCCC meeting I have been following and contributing to the debate about patents and low carbon technology. Before Copenhagen I plan to release a new report on the subject. But in the meantime readers might be interested in an article on IP Watch about Martin Khor’s latest rant against patents on mitigation technology. I agree that ensuring access to these technologies for developing countries is vital. But with these same countries self-imposing tariff and non-tariff barriers on low-carbon technologies, scrapping patents won’t do anything to increase access.

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