Introduction to Intellectual Property

The importance of intellectual property (IP) for the global economy continues growing: from the objectives of promoting technology transfer to the concerns regarding access to vaccines and treatment in pandemic times, from the goals of integrating national industries into global chains of value to the need for the protection of entrepreneur’s differentiating intangible assets in their struggle to succeed in competitive markets, IP acquires great relevance in the design of governments’ public policies as well as in the business strategies of inventors and creators. This book, elaborated as a collective effort by the experts of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)’s and the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV)’s International Bureaus, constitutes an indispensable guide that, in a simple, objective and yet thorough manner, will orient the reader through the maze of legal, economic and political topics that constitute today’s IP.

Among the vast array of theoretical and practical aspects of IP covered by this book are the following:

• discussions on the real nature and function of IP and its relation with competition law;

• a summary of the concepts and the application of most of the many branches of IP, including the analysis of areas not yet fully explored, such as IP in space activities and the interface of IP with artificial intelligence; and

• recent negotiation processes in WIPO and their outcomes, such as the new treaties on genetic resources and traditional knowledge, as well as the Riyadh Treaty on industrial designs.

The concepts explained in the updated edition of this book will be especially welcomed by professionals who need to have a consolidated source on the doctrine and practice of IP on which they can rely. Moreover, in general, this third edition will prove enormously useful for corporate counseling, IP practitioners, government officials, IP agents, students and academics.