FOREWORD

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are crucial from the perspectives of attaining productivity and competitiveness, which forms the core mission of the APO. Today it may not be an overstatement to argue that whether business corporations survive or perish depends on their intellectual property, or more broadly, knowledge assets. It is therefore important to promote the creation of new technologies and services, protect the rights of the original owners, and encourage people to utilize them fully. In many developing countries, however, the concept of IPRs is not well understood, and further the mechanisms of registration and marketing are still weak. Some of the problems involved in IPRs include the filing of patent applications on R&D results, negotiations for licensing agreements, treatment of exclusive or nonexclusive licensing, justification of the costs involved, and real contributions from both benefactors and beneficiaries for commercialization. R&D is a high-cost investment. The result of R&D is IPRs, which unless successfully exploited, will not achieve economic returns. It is important to establish the machinery for IPRs and educate researchers who are the sources of creativity and innovation. Furthermore, it is crucial to protect IPRs as this is indispensable to a country's competitiveness in global markets. The role of government is also important, since it should provide the infrastructure, platform, and environment for the creation, protection, and exploitation of intellectual property.

Keeping the above background in view, a symposium was organized in Bangkok, Thailand, from 11 to 14 November 2003. The current publication in the form of an e-book is a compilation of selected papers presented by distinguished speakers. It is our sincere hope that readers will gain new insights from this publication on how IPRs should be created, protected, and best utilized for higher productivity and competitiveness.

– TAKASHI TAJIMA, APO Secretary-General, Tokyo, May 2004