Beijing, China
November 1, 2007
|
IP Handbook of Best
Practices |
Visit
www.ipHandbook.org
to see it, understand it,
and be a part of it. |
Today, a new and unique resource
in intellectual property and innovation management has been
launched: the Online version
of the Handbook of Best Practices. Speaking at the Global
Forum for Health Research in Beijing, Anatole Krattiger who led
the effort said: “Thanks to the foresight of and support from
the Rockefeller Foundation, MIHR
and PIPRA [the publishers]
were able to capitalize on the Web 2.0. The Online version of
the resource gives us the ability to weave new connections and
pursue new directions. The global IP revolution, increasingly
led by the public sector, is just beginning. It amplifies the
important contribution of sound IP management and how the public
sector can put intellectual property to work for a better,
healthier, and more equitable world.”
Carlos Morel of the Oswaldo Cruz
Foundation (Fiocruz, Brazil), a veteran in health research who
chaired the special launch session at Forum 11, added that
“Tapping into a nearinexhaustible source of information about IP
management issues is now just a click and a query away for
anyone, for free.” The resource contains the entire content of
the Handbook and of the important companion Executive Guide
which were published recently. All content can be downloaded for
free. The Online version also includes, for each chapter and
topic, special
editorial introductions written in plain language. A list of
best practices is included for each chapter that addresses
separately the needs of government policymakers, heads of
universities and research centers, scientists and licensing
executives.
“This practical resource contains
the most useful material to manage innovation I’ve seen in the
15 years of my career” said Silvia Salazar, Legal counsel at the
University of Costa Rica earlier last week in Vińa del Mar,
Chile,
when the Handbook’s companion Executive Guide was released at
the 6th Latin American Ag-Biotech Symposium. It “will serve as a
concise guide for experts and provide fascinating insight for
all citizens of the
Brave New World” wrote Dr. Reddy in the Guide’s Foreword.
 A
CD-ROM version has also been launched, supported and developed
by the Global Forum for Health Research. It broadens the reach
of the Handbook, particularly for countries and institutions
with low internet bandwidth. It can be installed on PCs and
accessed anytime.
Already endorsed by many leaders
in the fields of global health, biotechnology, agriculture, and
IP/innovation management, the global resource has been praised
by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug for showing “how
public sector research institutions and developed countries
alike can use [intellectual property] to achieve their
humanitarian and socio-economic objectives…”.
Richard Mahoney of the
International Vaccine Institute and co-Editor in Chief (another
veteran in the vaccine development area) wrote that “the Online
version dramatically contributes to leveling the playing field
between the public and private sectors. This will lead to a
broader adoption of best practices by the public sector. This,
in turn, will allow it to achieve its goals within the evolving
IP framework. These new ways can help it better mobilize the
resources to take a product through the process of innovation.
These include creative licensing practices that ensure global
access and affordability, improved institutional IP management
capabilities, the formulation of comprehensive national IP
policies, and the strengthening of IP court systems and patent
offices. These are what best practices in IP management are all
about, and what this Handbook, Executive Guide and Online
version seek to help bring about and promote.”
 For
the moment, the Online resource is static (with the exception of
a blog on IP and innovation management). It includes the entire
Handbook/Guide content but also much, much more, including
printer-friendly formats, and easy-to use searches and users’
guides. The user guides allow different users (viz.
policymakers, heads of universities/research centers,
scientists, and licensing executives) to see the most relevant
text, chapters and case studies responding to their specific
interests. “The Online version amplifies the scope and impact of
the Handbook’s advancement of sound IP management for commercial
and humanitarian ends, offering tools and strategies for
utilizing the power of intellectual property and the public
domain” said Alan Bennett who heads PIPRA.
The site has been built to be
expandable into an interactive resource. video presentations and
slides will eventually be mounted for download, and
Wikipedia-type features allowing users to add comments and share
their own experiences and documents. “We are establishing a
virtual global network of IP managers. The Online version is the
first step in the development of an interactive Online IP
management community allowing people from around the world to
interact and build a social IP network” said Stanley Kowalski,
member of the editorial Board at the Franklin Pierce Law Center
(where the Handbook is used as a textbook).
Handbook: 2 volumes, 2000
pages, 153 chapters, case studies, sample agreements, glossary
and more.
Executive Guide (not
shown): Covers 17 topics in plain English, each followed by key
implications and best practices for government policymakers,
heads of universities and research centers, scientists and
licensing executives. 198 pages plus nearly two-dozen short case
studies, and appendices. |
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