Presentation
Speakers
- Ms. Darinka Tomic, (University of Western Ontario)
"Intellectual Property (IP) and the Right to Food" - Prof. Mistrale Goudreau, (University of Ottawa)
"Industrial Property at the Crossroads of Paradigms / La propriété industrielle à la croisée des paradigmes "
Moderator
- Prof. Margaret Ann Wilkinson (University of Western University)
"Intellectual Property (IP) and the Right to Food"
Ms.Darinka Tomic, Candidate à la MSL (Master of Studies in Law), Faculty of Law (Western Law), University of Western Ontario
Abstract:
Intellectual Property [IP] is omnipresent in both Public International Law [PIL] and International Trade while the right to food has a much lower international profile. IP moved into International Trade at the close of the 20th century: the right to food, though mentioned in PIL, still has no presence in International Trade. The right to health, on the other hand, was present only in PIL but then, in 2001, nation states re-balanced the right to health and IP rights through International Trade. Like the right to food, the rights of persons with disabilities appear only in PIL but the 2013 Marrakesh Treaty connects such rights to both IP in PIL and in International Trade. Given these two examples, this presentation discuss which strategy (further recognition in PIL or in International Trade) may best move the right to food forward.
"Industrial Property at the Crossroads of Paradigms / La propriété industrielle à la croisée des paradigmes "
Prof. Mistrale Goudreau, Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section, University of Ottawa
Abstract:
This overview of the research program, initiated by Professors Margaret Ann Wilkinson and Mistrale Goudreau, of which this event marks the launch. focuses on changing perceptions and paradigms affecting industrial property (patents, trademarks, trade secrets, etc.). These devices have become an essential feature in the negotiation of multilateral trade agreements and occupy important places in the news. In Canada, where service industries dominate domestic production and increasingly our economy is transforming into a knowledge-based economy, it is increasingly argued by policy makers that innovation is the most important factor for long-term economic growth. At the same time, the global economy is being reshaped by the rise of large, multinational corporations, which perceive industrial property rights as corporate assets and investments. In the United States, scholars have begun reporting a backlash that started in the 1980s, bringing on what some American scholars have named the ‘intellectual property wars’. Are we witnessing the marginalization of the intellectual interests of the individuals and small businesses ? How is the global repositioning of industrial property taking place in the Canadian context? Does industrial property generate social costs? If so, are those taken into account in policy-making?
Résumé :
Cet exposé des projets de recherche entamés par Margaret Ann Wilkinson et Mistrale Goudreau, dont la présente conférence constitue le lancement, vise à identifier les changements de perceptions et paradigmes qui affectent de nos jours la propriété industrielle (brevets, marques de commerce, secrets commerciaux etc.). Ces droits de propriété immatérielle sont devenus un item primordial dans les accords commerciaux multilatéraux et la propriété industrielle occupe une place importante dans l’actualité. Au Canada où les industries de services dominent la production nationale et où notre économie se transforme en économie de savoir, les autorités avancent de plus en plus que l’activité innovatrice est le facteur le plus important de tous pour la croissance économique à long terme. En même temps, l'économie mondiale est transformée par l’apparition de grandes entreprises, le plus souvent multinationales, qui perçoivent les droits de propriété industrielle comme un actif d'entreprise ou un investissement. Aux États-Unis, certains ont commencé à faire état d’un mouvement de backlash (contrecoup), qui aurait débuté dans les années 80, et qui aurait amené ce que certains chercheurs américains ont appelé les ‘intellectual property wars’. Sommes-nous témoins de la marginalisation des intérêts intellectuels des individus et des petites entreprises? Comme ce repositionnement de la propriété industrielle s’articule-t-il dans le contexte canadien ? La propriété intellectuelle engendre-t-elle des coûts sociaux ? Si oui, comment doit-on en tenir compte?