Durban climate deal needs IP decision

Dr Matthew Rimmer

The United Nations conference on climate change in Durban should address outstanding issues about intellectual property or risk developing countries failing to meet mitigation targets, according to an IP expert from The Australian National University.

Matthew Rimmer, an ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor at the ANU College of Law, is the author of Intellectual Property and Climate Change: Inventing Clean Technologies.

He says that first-world countries can no longer ignore the topic of intellectual property.

"IP should not be a taboo topic in Durban. There is a desperate need to reform the IP system to properly address concerns about the environment, global warming, and the energy crisis," said Rimmer. "The Durban talks should establish a climate commons for sharing intellectual property.

"Patent law plays a critical role, especially in determining who owns clean technologies, who benefits from clean technologies and who has access to clean technologies.

"Leading up to the talk there had been stark divisions on intellectual property and climate change. India wants to promote accelerated access to critical mitigation and adaptation technologies and related intellectual property rights. However, a number of developed countries, notably the United States, have maintained that there should be no text on intellectual property and climate change at Durban."

Rimmer says that the Durban talks should foster collaboration and co-operation on intellectual property and climate change, rather than confrontation.

"The deal should broadly cover patent law, trademark law, copyright law, and related rights. The agreement should encourage the research, development, and transfer of clean technologies. Eco-labels should be promoted and there should be scope for broad fair use of essential environmental data.

"In the absence of an intellectual property regime, the objective of advancing appropriate mitigation and adaptation actions at the scale and speed warranted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 1992 will not be achievable for developing countries."

For s: Matthew Rimmer - 02 6125 4164