AIPPI 2015: IP the ‘villain’ despite green technology efforts
Lawyers at the 2015 AIPPI World Congress have been discussing green technology and the potential impact of intellectual property, which is still seen as a “villain” in some cases.
Speaking at the congress, currently taking place in Rio de Janeiro, a panel of lawyers and IP professionals said that although IP can help to disseminate green technologies, it can still be seen as a “villain” and a hindrance to development.
The discussion comes at an important time, said Bertram Huber, chair of the panel, as the UN is due to discuss climate change at its framework convention on climate change in November and December in Paris.
This year also marks AIPPI’s first ‘paperless’ meeting in an effort to embrace green-minded initiatives. The majority of conference documents are available on smartphones and laptops rather than on printed pages.
To emphasise the importance of climate change, a tweet by US author and environmentalist Bill McKibben was shown on the screen. The tweet, written in August 2012, said that July of that year marked “329 months in a row where the temperature was above the average temperature for the 20th century”.
“This is no longer about politics … it’s about physics,” McKibben’s tweet added.
Huber, principal of IP*SEVA (Intellectual Property for Sustainable Energy Ventures), which helps sustainable energy and environmental companies use IP, said he agreed that there is a need for education on a “generational level” but wondered whether it is too late.
“There are high hopes that there may eventually be an outcome which could help slow down global warming,” he said during the discussion yesterday, October 12, adding that “IP always come into play whenever the issue of climate change is debated”.
Adarsh Ramanujan, a director at law firm Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan in India, said that in the wind energy sector the number of patent applications by Chinese companies has risen in the past five years.
“These [technologies] were traditionally patented by Germany, Holland and the US, so we are seeing a slow shift where filings are increasing [in China],” he noted.
He said developing nations, including India, have also seen an increase.
But he added that the Indian government previously suggested that if green technology were to be “free of IP” then it would be in a much better position.
“The perception remains that IP, and the associated rights that come with it, is perceived as the villain,” he added.
But Huber said he did not believe that fundamental changes to the existing IP system were needed. Instead, he said, there needs to be a “workable infrastructure in developing countries”.
Guillaume Henry, partner at Szleper Henry Avocats, said that there is a general perception that IP and sustainable development are two areas that ignore each other.
“IP can play a role in dissemination of green technology; it’s rare that IP hinders transfer. It’s our role to study this objectively and show how IP can help,” he added.
The 2015 AIPPI World Congress runs from October 10 to 14 at the Windsor Barra Hotel and Congressos in Rio.
