Intellectual Property

The governance of global knowledge profoundly affects our responses to urgent global challenges, from climate change to human health and the eradication of poverty.

Our work on intellectual property and knowledge governance focuses on four issue areas:

  1. The politics of global intellectual property rules and the ways in which developing countries engage with and exert influence over them
  2. The politics of international intellectual property reforms in developing countries
  3. The governance of the World Intellectual Property Organisation
  4. Proposing principles and options for the future of the global knowledge regime

Amidst continuing calls for the reform of global intellectual property rules, GEG has convened an independent Expert Taskforce on Global Knowledge Governance to advise on reforming global knowledge governance. The taskforce is led by a small, core team of experts participating in a personal capacity, supported by several distinguished Honorary Advisors.

Recent publications

Deere Birkbeck, C. 2014. Inside View – Strengthening WIPO’s Governance for the Next 50 Years: A Time for Action, Intellectual Property Watch, 26 September 2014.

Deere Birkbeck, C. 2014. WIPO’s Assistance To Developing Countries: Taking Forward The Unfinished Reform Agenda,  Inside View - Intellectual Property Watch, 13 November 2014

WIPO
WIPO’s Program And Budget Stand-Off Highlights That Member States Must Act On WIPO’s Governance System
Carolyn Deere Birkbeck at South Centre event on the Future of the WIPO Development Agenda
New Book: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): A Reference Guide
New practical guide to the World Intellectual Property Organization now available to order at discounted price
GEG and ICTSD host Geneva discussion of Intellectual Property governance
WIPO’s Assistance To Developing Countries: Taking Forward The Unfinished Reform Agenda
Strengthening Governance of the World Intellectual Property Organisation: A Time for Action
GEG's Expert Taskforce on Global Knowledge Governance
Three Articles Published by Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): A Reference Guide (2016)
Dr Carolyn Deere Birkbeck
Books
GEG WP 2015/105 WIPO’s Development Agenda and the Push for Development-oriented Capacitybuilding on Intellectual Property: How Poor Governance, Weak Management, and Inconsistent Demand Hindered Progress
Dr Camila Villard Duran, Senior Research Associate, GLF 2014-16
Working papers
GEG WP 2014/93 The Governance of the World Intellectual Property Organization A Reference Guide
Dr Carolyn Deere Birkbeck
Working papers
GEG WP 2012/71 International Regime Complexity and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights
Working papers
The Implementation Game: The TRIPS Agreement and the Global Politics of Intellectual Property Reform in Developing Countries (2008), Oxford University Press
Books
GEG International Political Economy Workshop