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Miyamoto, Tomoko --- "International Treaties and Patent Law Harmonization: Today and Beyond" [2009] ELECD 240; in Takenka, Toshiko (ed), "Patent Law and Theory" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009)

Book Title: Patent Law and Theory

Editor(s): Takenka, Toshiko

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845424138

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: International Treaties and Patent Law Harmonization: Today and Beyond

Author(s): Miyamoto, Tomoko

Number of pages: 35

Extract:

5 International treaties and patent law
harmonization: today and beyond
Tomoko Miyamoto*



1 Introduction
Since the conclusion of the Paris Convention in 1883, an international patent
law has been progressively developing. Commonalities in national patent laws
have been steadily increasing. International norm setting, however, is facing
new challenges today due to the increased recognition of the role of the patent
system in the knowledge-based economy. On the one hand, the patent system
is enjoying success in the sense that patent protection is sought in wider
sectors of business and commerce in increasingly broader geographic territo-
ries.1 On the other hand, many concerns have been raised with respect to the
social and economic roles of the patent system. Some critics go even further
to question the concept of intangible property in the information age, whereby
intangible information as such is increasingly becoming a core element of the
innovation which shapes our society.
Over the course of human history, numerous theories have been introduced
to justify exclusive rights on intangible technical ideas.2 Among those, one of
the well-accepted theories is the economic incentive theory, that is, that the
principal objectives of the patent system are to encourage innovation, to
promote the development of technology and to foster dissemination of innov-



* The statements and views expressed in this chapter are solely those of the
author and do not represent any official position of WIPO. This chapter is partly based
on an earlier article, Philippe Baechtold and Tomoko Miyamoto, `International ...