Intellectual Property, Human Rights and Development: The Role of NGOs and Social Movements

by Duncan Matthews

Overview

This insightful and important new book explores the role played by Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in articulating concerns at the TRIPS Council, the WIPO, the WHO, the CBD-COP and the FAO that intellectual property rights can have negative consequences for developing countries. Duncan Matthews describes how coalitions of international NGOs have influenced the way that the relationship between intellectual property rights and development is understood, often framing the message as a human rights issue to emphasize these concerns and ensure that access to medicines, food security and the rights of indigenous peoples over their traditional knowledge are protected.

Based on extensive research undertaken in Geneva and in developing countries, the book also reveals how NGOs and broader social movements in Brazil, India and South Africa have played a crucial role in addressing the negative impacts of intellectual property rights by using human rights law as a practical tool before national courts and when seeking to influence national legislation and government policy.

Intellectual Property, Human Rights and Development will appeal to academics, practitioners, activists, international negotiators and to postgraduate students in intellectual property law, human rights law, the international political economy of intellectual property rights and development studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847207852
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	03/31/2011
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Duncan Matthews, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Queen Mary, University of London, UK

Table of Contents

Contents: 1. The Interface between Intellectual Property, Human Rights and Development 2. Public Health and Access to Medicines 3. Agriculture, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge 4. South Africa 5. Brazil 6. India 7. Emphasizing the Link between Intellectual Property, Human Rights and Development: The Role of NGOs and Social Movements 8. Reappraising Intellectual Property Rights and Development: The Role of NGOs and Social Movements Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

‘Duncan Matthews has produced a first-rate, in-depth analysis of the role of NGOs in international and national intellectual property policy. Based on extensive primary research, this book provides a smart, thoughtful perspective on the role of key developing country NGOs, NGOs’ relationships with national policymakers, and with multilateral institutions. Everyone interested in the interface of intellectual property policy and human rights, development, access to medicines, farmers’ rights, and biodiversity should read this compelling account. I highly recommend this excellent contribution to our understanding.’

Susan K. Sell

‘Professor Matthews has deftly and meticulously contributed to our growing grasp of civil society actors and their expanding influence within global legal regimes. This is no minor feat, either for him or the subjects of this book.’

Margaret Chon

One of the features of international negotiations has been the increasing participation of non-governmental organizations. In this important book, Duncan Mathews shows the nature and extent of NGO influence in the negotiations over intellectual property. Written with great clarity and drawing on interview data and case studies, the book will be valuable to both scholars and practitioners working in international negotiation.' - Peter Drahos, Australian National University 'This is a valuable corrective to a debate that is too often premised on the perspective of rich and developed countries. Focussing on the network of NGOs that supports developing countries, Duncan Matthews fills a major gap in the analysis of international disputes about intellectual property. His analysis rightly demolishes the position that developing countries have remained helpless in the face of developments in the global governance of IPRs, and helps explain how the global politics of IPRs is shifting. —Christopher May, Lancaster University, UK

Professor Matthews has deftly and meticulously contributed to our growing grasp of civil society actors and their expanding influence within global legal regimes. This is no minor feat, either for him or the subjects of this book. —Margaret Chon, The IP Law Book Review

Each chapter analyses both policy areas, access to medicines and agriculture/genetic resources. These three exceptionally rich, fieldwork-based case studies constitute the meat - and the principal contribution - of this book. . . The book marks a major contribution for the empirical material alone. —Ken Shadlen, Journal of Development Studies

From the Publisher

‘This book reveals how non-governmental organizations helped developing countries to better understand and mitigate the impact of the new standards of intellectual property protection that those countries were forced to adopt in the context of trade negotiations. Based on comprehensive and rigorous research, the author offers an outstanding piece that will not only be important for academics, policy-makers and students working in the area of intellectual property, but also for those more broadly interested in the implementation of human rights, coalition-building scenarios and framing strategies.’

Carlos Correa

‘This is a valuable corrective to a debate that is too often premised on the perspective of rich and developed countries. Focussing on the network of NGOs that supports developing countries, Duncan Matthews fills a major gap in the analysis of international disputes about intellectual property. His analysis rightly demolishes the position that developing countries have remained helpless in the face of developments in the global governance of IPRs, and helps explain how the global politics of IPRs is shifting.’

Christopher May

‘One of the features of international negotiations has been the increasing participation of non-governmental organizations. In this important book, Duncan Matthews shows the nature and extent of NGO influence in the negotiations over intellectual property. Written with great clarity and drawing on interview data and case studies, the book will be valuable to both scholars and practitioners working in international negotiation.’

Peter Drahos

‘Each chapter analyses both policy areas, access to medicines and agriculture/genetic resources. These three exceptionally rich, fieldwork-based case studies constitute the meat – and the principal contribution – of this book. . . The book marks a major contribution for the empirical material alone.’

Ken Shadlen