Emerging regulatory issues: intellectual property and global value chains

Abstract

Intellectual property includes several areas of regulation which govern access to and uses of knowledge, information and technology. In addition to having many cultural and social benefits, knowledge, information and technology are key building blocks of an innovative economy. The central and perpetual challenge of intellectual property law and policy is to ensure that there are both adequate incentives for innovators and creators to generate these building blocks, and that those incentives do not overreach so as, in fact, to inhibit innovation. This description, however, no longer tells the whole intellectual property story. This article discusses the emergence through trade and investment agreements of a changed approach to the objectives of intellectual property protection, and the challenges that approach presents for knowledge-based and innovation development of New Zealand interests.