Message from ATRIP President

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

What is the purpose of intellectual property and who do the laws serve? There are some well-known answers to these questions, but the answers are never static just as innovation and creativity are dynamic. Much of the debate around the parameters of intellectual property protection and the extent of how flexible the law should be, at both national and international levels, relates to policies and views about what the law is supposed to achieve. Also relevant to the debate is if the law reflects its underlying justifications and whether those justifications come to fruition or whether other outcomes are occurring.

The TRIPS Agreement includes a range of objectives and principles. Broadly, TRIPS added explicit trade-related concerns (including both export and development interests) to the existing international rationales and the underlying domestic policy rationales of intellectual property. Subsequent to TRIPS, trade and investment agreements that often aim to increase protection and enforcement and reduce TRIPS flexibilities have emerged.

The relevance of intellectual property as a set of discrete rules is arguably both expanding and shrinking. It is practically trite to point out that there are complexities in how intellectual property interacts with changing technologies and other areas of law in many fields. It is, therefore, more important than ever to analyse how the object and purpose of intellectual property applies to new and fast-changing areas such as big data, biotechnology and social media.

The relevance of the object and purpose of intellectual property might be assessed by looking at who is involved in the creation, use and dissemination of intellectual property and the outcomes of rights and uses for those actors. This congress will include panels that discuss the object and purpose of intellectual property from a variety of perspectives.

On this website you can see information about hotels and how to get assistance for visa purposes.

I very much look forward to welcoming you to the 2017 congress in Wellington.

Susy Frankel
ATRIP President