ROLE OF IPR IN BIOTECHNOLOGY TRANSFER- CORPORATE VIEWS W. Lesser

The enhancement of intellectual property rights (IPR) under the TRIPs agreement2 has to some degree been paralleled by an expansion of the literature on the optimal forms and roles of IPR systems. Economists have long concerned themselves (albeit with limited success) with such matters as optimal patent scope and duration. Public sector scientists have been particularly concerned with the effects of IPR on the dissemination of research findings, while a broad range of groups has expressed divergent opinions about the implications of IPR for the environment and traditional cultures, among other subjects. And industry representative groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have in the past pressed hard for strengthened protection worldwide. What is missing from this knowledge base is much of a concept of the perspective of how actual users of IP systems view its components and roles. We are aware, largely from surveys in developed countries, that the importance of IPR are seen quite differently in different sectors. Nogues (1990, pp. 11-14), for example, found executives on average ranked patent rights low as a component of R&D investment determinants. The reasons are generally conjectured as the ease of copying, the option to use alternative protectio