Intellectual Property: Learn More About the Patent Process

Here are a number of resources on intellectual property rights. Most of these focus on pharmaceutical patent protection in particular, and some survey the topic from an international perspective.

Intellectual Property Rights and Pharmaceuticals

• Delivering on the Promise of Pharmaceutical Innovation: The Need to Maintain Strong and Predictable Property Rights, White Paper by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA)
  This comprehensive paper, written by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA), explains how private sector research performed by research based pharmaceutical companies is essential to the innovation that has supported the health care revolution that has taken place in America, and how the preservation of strong, effective patent protection is essential for continued development of cures.
  • Download the Paper
• Health For Humanity: How Patent Protection Saves Lives, The Manhattan Institute, The Manhattan Institute, Dec. 2002
  This link provides access to the transcript of a panel discussion on pharmaceutical patent protection held at the Manhattan Institute in December 2002. The discussion involved researchers and policy experts from Columbia and Harvard, as well as the International Policy Network and Consumer Project on Technology.
  • Go to The Manhattan Institute Web site

Intellectual Property Rights and Pharmaceuticals: An International Perspective

• Intellectual Property Rights and the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Consequence of Incomplete Protection, Fraser Institute Report, 1999
  The rise of global trade has further broadened the discussion of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) from a largely domestic to an international stage, especially with the conclusion in 1994 of an international treaty on IPRs called TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights). The Fraser Institute's Law and Markets Project invited leading scholars in the field to participate in two back-to-back conferences in 1999, to discuss IPRs, TRIPS, and related issues. Follow this link to read about IPRs and the pharmaceutical industry, as written by one of the experts in attendance at the conference.
  • Download the Report

• Fact Sheet: TRIPS and Pharmaceutical Patents, WTO September 2003
  This fact sheet, prepared by the World Trade Organization (WTO), outlines the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) - an agreement which includes information on pharmaceutical patents.
  • View the Fact Sheet

Last Updated September 2007