Intellectual property (IP) is ‘in a different solar system’ than ...

geographically -- the American Intellectual Property Law Assn.’s annual meeting heard. Demand has grown for IP protections, as have the number of patent applications filed internationally, Gurry said. It’s not just an expansion of demand for existing IP rights, he said. New IP rights were created globally the past 2 decades, Gurry said, citing data protection measures, the WTO’s TRIPs agreement and other Internet-related treaties. Networked society and the Web have changed matters politically through the emergence of horizontal alliances, he said. International IP negotiations used to be mainly between regional groups, but now “we're seeing horizontal alliances between non-governmental organizations, often in industrialized countries, and developing countries,” Gurry said. “IP responded to its own policy imperatives and looked after itself.” At the same time, the IP society has become “a very convenient battleground” for international debate, resulting in 2 distinct agendas. Industrialized countries want to make machinery work better and address piracy issues, and developing nations have a more political agenda, Gurry said. The big question is whether these are parallel agendas and whether they will converge.