Liability regimes are key to help developing economies
Jerome H. Reichman ‘00, Bunyan S. Womble Professor of Law at Duke Law School focusing largely on IP law including comparative and international IP law and former special advisor to the United States National Academies and the International Council for Science (ICSU) on the subject of legal protection for databases, “Of Green Tulips and Legal Kudzu: Repacking Rights in Subpatentable Innovation,” Vanderbilt Law Review, pgs. 1797, November 2000, Accessed 7-16-2024 by NT-RS
Furthermore, the proposed compensatory liability regime would help to solve some pressing needs of the developing countries. In particular, such a regime would provide these countries with new means of stimulating local innovation that would avoid the pitfalls and contradictions of existing design protection laws and utility model laws, and it could prove especially beneficial to efforts to exploit their comparative advantages in certain cultural industries. 188 It could also be modified to enable developing counties suitably to protect the folklore and the traditional know-how of indigenous peoples. As with small-scale innovations, the goal is to reward both first comers (in this case, the relevant indigenous community) and second comers (those who build on the community's cultural heritage), without impeding access to the pubic domain or the flow of new products. With small amounts of tinkering, a compensatory liability regime could be adapted to encourage use of traditional knowledge without denying the relevant indigenous communities the right to a fair share of the proceeds.