Intellectual Property Management in Health and Agricultural Innovation: A Handbook of Best Practices

Prepared by and for policy-makers, leaders of public sector research establishments, technology transfer professionals, licensing executives, and scientists, the Handbook offers up-to-date information and strategies for utilizing the power of both intellectual property and the public domain. Eschewing ideological debates and general proclamations, the authors always keep their eye on the practical side of IP management. The Handbook provides substantive discussions and analyses of the opportunities awaiting anyone in the field who wants to put intellectual property to work.

The Handbook has already been endorsed by several noted leaders in the fields of agriculture, biotechnology, international development, and intellectual property, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug, who said (in the Handbook’s Forward): “This Handbook is timely… [it] shows how public sector research institutions and developed countries alike can use [intellectual property] to achieve their humanitarian and socio-economic objectives… [It is a] valuable guide in helping to navigate the complex—but rewarding—world of an increasingly global innovation system.”

Ariel Pablos-Méndez, Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation, who has been a leader in establishing public-private partnerships in heath, adds that “at the dawn of the 21st century the world created an unprecedented wave of public–private partnerships. For such investments to bear fruit as public goods it is paramount to manage intellectual property with the public interest in mind. This Handbook provides expert guidance to do just that and will assist in developing new capabilities in low- and middle-income countries.” Indeed, “intellectual property (IP) has become a much richer field of endeavor as it has moved from isolationism in the world of policy to a position of engagement … [This Handbook] will serve as an invaluable resource in this challenging new environment” wrote Francis Gurry, Deputy Director General, WIPO.

The Handbook offers tools, strategies, and case studies across two-volume, 2000 pages and 159 chapters and prefatory comments. It can be ordered online at www.ipHandbook.org and an online version will also be available beginning autumn 2007. Generous sponsorship by the Rockefeller Foundation and many other entities will allow free distribution of the Handbook to institutions in low and middle income countries.

Krattiger A, RT Mahoney, L Nelsen, JA Thomson, AB Bennett, K Satyanarayana, GD Graff, C Fernandez and SP Kowalski (eds). 2007. In Intellectual Property Management in Health and Agricultural Innovation: A Handbook of Best Practices.. MIHR: Oxford, U.K., and PIPRA: Davis, U.S.A.