Intellectual Property Rights: The Other Side of the Coin

Abstract

The modern world operates on the survival of the fittest rule. Hence, there is cutthroat competition among the states, and every state is striving for greater economic development. Development is based on the minimal use of resources which in turn is dependent upon technological innovations. These innovations incur huge research and development costs and can easily be copied to serve as the basis for further developments by the rivals. Thus, the idea of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) was introduced. While there are many advantages that these rights have to offer, they also prove to be deleterious in some ways as they also play a role in restricting innovation by the global North, which further widens the gap between both worlds. This paper traces the history of the IPR and develops an argument that proposes that IPR has been a cause of inequalities and has restricted innovation.