Why reward innovation?

Intellectual property brings benefits to society. It is any product of personal creation and inventiveness – a song you compose, a little gadget your friend put up together in her garage, a new irrigation method created by a farming organisation. Creators of intellectual property in agriculture help deliver more abundant food resources through innovative crop production technologies, including crop protection and biotechnology products.

By according intellectual property rights, society provides an incentive for people and organisations to invest time, resources and original thinking to continue developing more innovative products and technologies.

Intellectual property rights protection is done in many ways to protect innovators and society at large. In Asian agriculture, protection could come in the form of patents for gene constructs used to create better plant varieties or legal protection on safety and efficacy data for regulated chemicals used in farming. For example, governments could protect innovators from copycats who have not carried out research behind their products. Allowing copy products to thrive freely could result in serious problems with user safety, the environment and livelihoods of product users. Therefore, protecting the innovator is also protecting the interests of society.

Innovation is a key driver to competitiveness and growth. Economic growth is statistically linked to societies where research and development are rewarded, and intellectual property rights are protected.

Read more about:

Intellectual Property: Source of innovation, creativity, growth and progress
International Chamber of Commerce, August 2005

India's Secret Weapon
Richard Wilder and Pravid Anand, The Wall Street Journal, 25 May 2006
India is rapidly evolving into Asia's innovation center, leaving China in the dust. Its secret weapon? Intellectual property rights protection.

Developers vs generic manufacturers — Innovators need a booster dose
Uttam Gupta, The Hindu Business Line, 04 July 2006