[FYI] ICC International Chamber of Commerce on Intellectual Property

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

<http://www.iccwbo.org/home/intellectual_property/current_emerging/ip 
_issues_2001/part_one_intro.asp>  

------------------------------- CUT -------------------------------

Current and emerging intellectual property issues for business  

Commission on Intellectual and Industrial Property, January 2001  


Current and emerging intellectual property issues for business  

With knowledge-intensive industries forming an ever-greater part of 
the world economy, intellectual property has become a key issue for 
policy makers and businesses. Fast-moving developments in technology, 
business, politics and society pose new challenges for companies 
reliant on intellectual property and for the system itself. In 
constant movement, the field of intellectual property has never been 
so much in the public eye.  

To help guide the business community and policy makers through this 
changing landscape and to alert them to emerging intellectual 
property issues, ICC has prepared an overview of the key current and 
emerging issues in different fields of intellectual property today. 
This report also lays the blueprint for ICC's future work in 
intellectual property and identifies areas for immediate action.   

Developments influencing the evolution of intellectual property 
protection are described in an introductory chapter. This is followed 
by a "roadmap" which sets out the key current and emerging 
intellectual property issues, and related business and recommended 
government actions. This report is intended to be an evolving working 
document, and ICC would welcome any comments on and contributions to 
it.   

ICC thanks the many experts who contributed to this report for their 
valuable input, and particularly the members of the working party and 
drafters of the different sections. We hope that this initiative will 
assist policy-makers and businesses in addressing the key 
intellectual property issues of today and in preparing for the issues 
of the future.   

[...]  

Introduction 

Developments having an impact on intellectual property protection  

Important economic, social, political and technological developments 
over the past few years have had a fundamental impact on how 
intellectual property is created, exploited and traded. This has put 
pressure on existing systems of intellectual property protection to 
adapt to accommodate these changes. Businesses reliant on the 
exploitation of intellectual property assets must, to remain 
competitive, ensure that the means available to them to protect their 
intellectual property are still effective in this evolving 
environment. This introduction describes the main forces changing the 
intellectual property landscape today and their possible impact on 
the creation and exploitation of intellectual property. Among these 
are:  

1.The globalization of the economy 2.The development of new 
technologies 3.The growth in economic importance of non-technological 
business innovations and resources not protected by existing 
intellectual property regimes 4.The politicization of intellectual 
property issues 5.Changes in the ways businesses operate  

[...]

------------------------------- CUT -------------------------------