WTO, Public goods, knowledge, supply of knowledge, WTO Agreement

1. Proposal for a WTO Agreement on the Supply of Knowledge as a Public Good Susan Isiko Štrba
Open A.I.R Conference on Innovation and IP in Africa & 3rd Global Congress on IP and the Public Interest 2013
Cape Town, 9 - 14 December 2013

2. Some reflections
•Voluntary offers with binding commitments
•Controversy around “public good”. We need to convince (another term?)
•Challenges of international cooperation to supply GPG – in area of climate change, clean technology, or even example from WTO of tech transfer (not really GPG)

3. opportunities
•Global public goods will require global participation, eg, environment
•Will be seen as a Platform for engagement
–Governments become stakeholders than by-standers
–African government officers will see it as a multilateral problem
•Create para-IP policies – that have the capacity to contain the maximalist/strong IP rights (education, rural development, security, government procurement)
•But since WTO does not have experience in “supplying”, have to find a way to change mind set

4. Likely political/Institutional hurdles
•Does WTO have mandate?
–Yes, maybe not outlined in the Instruments but need
–It’s about convincing and coalition-building

5. Thank You
Susan.isikostrba@graduateinstitute.ch