Contents of books about intellectual property published in Ukraine

Globalization of knowledge economy raised a problem of intellectual property (IP) protection on the global level. With the shift to the new knowledge economy IP protection rules are becoming the focus of one of the most intense struggles to reform globalization. This book arose out the growing controversy surrounding the global system of IP protection that govern rights over knowledge.

This book determines the main actors of globalization in the age of IP protection. It examines the potential impact of the global IP protection in the countries of the center (core) and periphery, as well as on private and public interests. Who will control the major new technologies of the twenty-first century? The book demonstrates the fundamental economic rationality of intellectual property law, but argues that countries of the center have gone too far in their attempts to implement high IP standards in countries of periphery. Economic analysis of advance in technology and its effect on the creation of new technology makes the author sceptical about substantial enlargement of global IP protection.

The book determines the optimal scope of IP protection favourable for both — private and public interests. The author addresses this issue in light of advances in technology and changes in the concept of creativity, and especially in light of the underemphasized role of the public domain as a source of vital inputs into the creation of new technology. To do so the book examines the scholarly literature, doctrines and principles and conclude whether they are efficient in an economic sense.

Intellectual property should be subject to both economic and law research. Economic factors determining IP protection impact are decisive for identifying law instruments of adequate IP protection regime. In this book economics answers the fundamental question how extensive the legal IP protection should be. Optimal IP protection contributes to innovations and distribution of knowledge and technologies being decisive factors of competitive economy. The book refers to intellectual property from the standpoint of law and economics.

The book contains brief overview of copyright and patent law history. It focuses on IP protection system in Ukraine and its development tendencies. As a result of comparative analysis of the U.S. and Ukraine's IP legislation the book reveals main problems of the Ukrainian IP protection system and develops recommendations for improvement of the national legal framework.

Glossary of official terms of Ukraine in the area of intellectual property and contents of books published in Ukraine in this area are increasing the scientific and educational value of the book.

Globalization stirs strong emotions. The advantages and disadvantages of globalization have been heavily scrutinized and debated in recent years. While the benefits of globalization are significant for many countries, the global society is wrought with inequalities. Who is affected positively and negatively by globalization of the world economy and why anti-globalization protests are taking place? We don't expect this book to settle the debates over globalization. The purpose of this overview is to better understand conditions of the global economy in which IP protection is developed.

In order to study impact of globalization and the global IP protection the author uses the «periphery» theory arguing that the world economy has two poles: a «center» and «periphery». The productive structures of the center (the developed countries economies) and those of the periphery (mainly countries of the Third World) are distinctively different. Poor states, operating in the periphery of the global economy and playing an essential role in the world production, shift raw materials and labor resources to the core. The productive capacity of the periphery is always behind that of the core. That backwardness hinders the development of knowledge and technology and its use. The center supplies the world economy with knowledge and technology and plays the role of the main actor in the political process. If there are changes in the periphery, they are always changes in response to changes in the core. In the center-periphery system there is a built-in mechanism for unequal growth.

Proponents argue that globalization has provided development opportunities for poor countries due to eliminating trade barriers between the countries. They point to increased trade, new and better technologies, expanded media, and economic growth. According to IMF, globalization offers «greater opportunity for people to tap into more and larger markets around the world. It means that they can have access to more capital flows, technology, cheaper imports, and larger export markets.^[1] According to globalization proponents, trade liberalization helps the peripheral countries to learn and adopt new technologies through a better knowledge of the embodied technology in the goods and services imported from the countries of the center. Capital liberalization allows larger foreign direct investment inflowsinto the peripheral states to create jobs and raise wages, as well as transfer technology to the local workers. Globalization can help world convergence not only through the possibility of periphery to import and export more, but also through increasing knowledge and faster technological transfer.

Opponents blame globalization for a rapid loss of national sovereignty and for the reason that governments and states are becoming powerless before the irresistible rise and influence of financial markets and multinational corporations. They argue that globalization increases poverty and inequality while increasing gap between rich and poor. While globalization is heavily weighted in favor of the more economically stable countries, it also limits the ability of any single state to exercise absolute dominance.^[2] Economic and political interdependence allows countries to influence policies and economic decisions made by other countries. Globalization transcends national borders and limits the political and coercive actions individual states take within their borders, thus further limiting the dominance of countries.

The general concern of «anti-global» movement is that the growing international economy and the organizations that support it are dominated by corporate economic interests who are escaping the scrutiny and regulation provided by national governments. Anti-global motivations vary. Peripheral states argue that free trade is a benefit for the core at the expense of periphery since tariff barriers are necessary for periphery to develop their economies. They also complain that World Bank lending policies force poor countries to adopt economic policies which benefit only their wealthy trading partners and leave them with an overwhelming burden. Environmental organizations believe that the WTO has promoted policies which enable corporations to escape national restrictions on business practices by calling such restrictions «trade barriers». They also accuse global companies of dominating the politics of peripheral governments. Social activists are concerned that the social rights in the United States and Europe will become eroded because workers in the emerging countries will not have these protections. Globalization opponents protest against activity of the World Trade Organization, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, NAFTA and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, etc.

Unequal economic growth of the core and periphery is being the major discontent of globalization. Peripheral countries have created resistance to the global pressure to reduce trade barriers through World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. The main problem relates to agricultural products. Because local producers cannot compete with agricultural exports from major countries (such as the United States) these countries have experienced a severe downturn in their domestic agricultural acreage. They cannot afford to subsidize adequately their own domestic agricultural industries.

Globalization is accompanied by increase of multinational corporations' role. Corporations raise and control trade and capital flows between regions and integrating markets on the global basis. They are agents driving globalization due to a series of technological advances and political decisions. These influential actors keeping under control the world trade and capital flows negatively impact economy of the peripheral states.

Globalization is taking place in the age of knowledge economy where intellectual property is becoming the major factor of production. Technological developments in the 20th century have transformed the majority of wealth-creating work from physically-based to knowledge-based. The only comparative advantage a country will enjoy will be its process of innovation-combining market and technology know-how with the creative talents of knowledge workers to solve a constant stream of competitive problems and its ability to derive value from information. We are now an information society in a knowledge economy where intellectual property is a key production factor.

Transformation of the world economy in the knowledge economy raises the issue of optimal IP model. Intellectual property means the rights for non-material assets (outcome of intellectual activity) existing separatively from a unique physical embodiment and having economic value. Intellectual property covers both law and economic aspects. In order to develop an adequate IP protection model this book looks at intellectual property as at a complex interdisciplinary subject.

The case for intellectual property in economic theory notes certain substantial differences from the case for tangible property. Consumption of tangible property is rivalrous. The subjects of intellectual property do not share this feature of rivalness. Intellectual property is of disseminating nature which means its ability to spread quickly (due to technology development) and to become the basis for new ideas. Intellectual property may exist in many bearers but to be low in demand. These specific features explain the complex IP nature and complicate development of the optimal IP protection regime.

Intellectual property raises distinctive economic issues. Analysis and evaluation of IP law should be conducted within an economic framework that seeks to align law with the dictates of economic efficiency. Being a key factor of production in knowledge economy intellectual property requires adequate protection. This assertion is popular among the Ukrainian IP researches. However, will economy and society benefit from absolute IP protection? To answer this question the book evaluates IP protection from the standpoint of advance in technology and its effect on the creation of new technology. Although there are powerful economic reasons in favor of IP rights protection, there are also considerable social costs and whether the benefits exceed the costs is impossible to answer without economic analysis.

Disseminating and cumulative by nature, intellectual property requires protection since it may be easily copied by competitors who have not borne any of the cost of creating IP. Thus, without protection against copying the incentive to create intellectual property will be undermined. At the same time, protection against copying, by enabling the creator of intellectual property to charge a price for copies (of which his property right makes him a monopolist) in excess of his marginal cost, prevents access to intellectual property by persons who value that access at more than the marginal cost but less that the price.^[3] What should be the scope of IP protection to ensure tradeoff between incentive to innovate and public access to knowledge (hereinafter referred to accordingly as «incentive» and «access»)? The book illustrates economic analysis of IP protection model in order to conclude whether particular economic doctrines and principles are efficient in an economic sense and, if not, how they might be changed to become efficient.

Expanding IP rights can reduce the amount of new intellectual property that is created by raising the creators' input costs. This relates to both copyright and patent areas. The broader IP protection is, the costlier the subsequent creation of works and inventions becomes because earlier ones are inputs into later ones. It brings the author to conclusion that enlargement of IP rights could weaken rather than strengthen the incentives to create new intellectual property.

The optimal scope of IP protection is supposed to ensure incentive-access tradeoff which means that IP rights-holders (creators) get highincomes, and public access to intellectual property contributes to creation of new IP. Incentive-access tradeoff should be achieved by application of particular legislative provisions balancing the private (IP rights-holders') and public (society's) rights and interests. Patent law and copyright provide for different legislative tools of balance. The book examines these tools for copyright and patent protection based on the Ukrainian legislation. In case of patent protection, incentive-access tradeoff is achieved by disclosure of information about invention for patent protection, patentibility requirements and the limited patent duration. To ensure optimal scope of copyright protection law provides for the limited copyright duration, fair use, public domain, nonprotection of ideas, theories etc.

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