ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book considers the international differences in patent policy from the perspective of their possible effects on innovation. It also considers the policy implications for strengthened protection in developing countries. The book reviews the evidence on experiences in the United States, other industrial countries, and the developing world. It discusses the kinds of innovative activities national governments seek to stimulate by conferring rights to intellectual property and the essential logic of the intellectual property-innovation nexus. The book examines the relationships among intellectual property, technology, and economic growth. It focuses on national and individual firm intellectual property protection policies in the developing countries of Brazil, India, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand, and the industrial countries of the United States, Japan, and Western Europe.
