New Knowledge Creation Regimes

To promote the creation and dissemination of knowledge in a globalizing world, public finance of R&D and the patent system must be helped work together. The traditional public finance provision of knowledge is often inhibited by financial restrictions. The traditional patent system, on the other hand, may restrict the flow of knowledge and thereby impede economic growth in developed and less developed countries.

In this context, intermediate institutional regimes - such as open source technology, general public licenses, soft patents, public private partnerships and private philanthropy - have come to play an increasingly important role.

What is the appropriate legal and institutional environment to generate the most productive and equitable combinations of these regimes?

What set of concerted international regulations is likely to create enough room for country and sector specific solutions, while giving special attention to the needs of SMEs and less developed countries?

What is the desirable division of labor between basic research funded by governments and applied research funded by business? How can private philanthropy be strengthened, in order to bridge gaps between needs and capacities for research and development? Should the width and duration of patents be restricted? What is the desirable role of guarantee funds (like AMC) equipped by governments or by sponsors, that frame well-defined research objectives, and guarantee for the future returns to it? Should compulsory licensing of patented productions, in matters of life and death, be introduced to allow free access for poor countries?