WTO led cooperation solves innovation better.

Nonagreement Cooperation: Connecting With the Growing Interest in Innovation One way to change the framing around intellectual property would be for the United States and likeminded nations to tap into the growing number of countries—such as Costa Rica, Estonia, and Peru—which have made innovation a priority and are looking for policy ideas, including on IP. In fact, at least 50 countries worldwide have created special agencies or foundations to maximize the innovation output of their enterprises and organizations—and virtually all of these countries have also articulated national innovation strategies.163 But to achieve this, the United States and likeminded countries will need to develop a more comprehensive and proactive strategy to engage—whether individually or collectively—with these countries to harmonize existing procedures and processes, and build institutional capacity to more effectively administer and enforce intellectual property rules. A more considered and active strategy for cooperation on IP will help countries that want to improve their innovation systems by sharing experiences, policies, and capacity-building efforts. These countries understand that relying on markets shaped by price signals alone will not generally be as effective as public-private partnerships in spurring higher productivity and greater levels of innovation. A wide range of studies have shown domestic policies such as support for a robust science and engineering workforce, an entrepreneurial culture, public investment in research, and favorable tax treatment of R&D all foster innovation.164 This type of engagement is mutually beneficial, as the receiving country improves its ability to leverage IP to support innovation, while the leading countries receive the assurance that intellectual property—whether foreign or domestic—will be better protected in the future. More of this type of cooperation complements the binding rules established in trade agreements, as they can help ensure these rules or those enacted unilaterally are enacted and operationalized; helping to ensure these rules do not just exist on paper. It is also a useful complement, both to trade agreements and supporting innovation, as not every intellectual property issue that may impact trade and innovation can be dealt with in a trade agreement. Each country’s lead intellectual property agencies—such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the European Union Intellectual Property Office—should take a leading role in operationalizing this strategy to engage with developing countries interested in improving their intellectual property systems. This would complement, and extend, similar convening and capacity building work being performed by WIPO. Existing arrangements outline how this type of engagement by specialist IP offices could be achieved. The “five IP offices” (IP5) of the European Union, Japan, Korea, China, and the United States should work together to improve the efficiency of the examination process for patents worldwide. The heads of the IP5 offices meet annually to decide on strategy and review progress. They also operate a number of working groups on various patent-assessment issues and potential harmonization efforts.165 Related to this, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office expanded its Office of International Patent Cooperation with a new division that focuses on international outreach. In addition, one or more leading nations should work with a third party to organize a global innovation policy conference that would focus on these nations and help them learn from each other, including how to develop a stronger IP system. In an ideal world, WIPO and WTO would take on this type of cooperation and engagement because of their broad membership and technical expertise. But due to institutional and ideological reasons, both organizations are inherently limited in what they can do. WIPO does (and can continue to) play a constructive role in providing technical advice and capacity building, on request, to member states on intellectual property laws and other issues. While this work has largely escaped critique, the ideological opposition that has come to define the debate on intellectual property at both organizations largely stops or stymies deliberations around new IP rules and enforcement, or expanded programs of engagement and cooperation.