The entire ecosystem of intellectual property rights is changing due to the fast pace of technology. The new ecosystem is driven by the emphasis policy makers are putting on innovation and its centrality to growth, feels Francis Gurry, the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation or WIPO.
In a free flowing interview Gurry spoke to Saurabh Shukla, editor-in-chief of NewsMobile, sharing his views about climate change, piracy, artificial intelligence and WIPO’s growth.
He said that intellectual property protects the competitive advantage of innovation and a new layer of rights are needed to deal with some questions in and around data.
On Climate Change
Innovation is the answer to stemming the tide of climate change. If we don’t do things differently they won’t change, he said. The question is how to stimulate innovation in the right areas particularly green and environmentally sustainable technologies. The answer he felt is to get the innovations to the market. For than incentives are needed so that investment can be pushed in the right areas. Such incentives can take the form of pricing, e.g. carbon pricing, that will stimulate further innovation.
On Piracy
The enterprises and the governments are jointly responsible for curbing piracy. In case of content, he said that currently, sales of digital content are rising in part because of the the good business models. And providing these accessible business models is the responsibility of enterprises. But this needs to be supported by government backed sanctions regime. This will curb piracy.
India’s role
He said India is rising power in technology and innovation. It has all the components in place – human capital, a government that is driving innovation, a vibrant private sector. It has a large role to play in the IPR arena.
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