Controversial history of intellectual property protection and its impact on national development: aspects of inequality among countries of the North/South axis

Abstract

This paper aims to present the international and domestic patent systems and the implications of the protection afforded by this industrial property instrument for the economic development of countries. Drawing on the specialised literature and on official documents on the subject, it shows how patented innovations drive industrialisation processes and constitute a source of income for countries. The international history of the patent protection system represented a scenario of domination and exploitation by northern, or 'developed', countries, which only enacted strict patent protection systems after they had already industrialised. Brazil does not have an industrial property framework capable of driving a wider expansion of its economy, given that the national normative base was created in a manner dependent on the international system, with rights and guarantees that favour the countries of the northern axis. In addition, developed countries have made efforts to distort the concept of patent so as to allow the patenting of discoveries, harming countries holding great biodiversity and creating an environment favourable to biopiracy. It was found that Brazil must rethink its industrial property regime, since global negotiations require mechanisms suited to the new reality, without harming the development of emerging countries.