Executive Guide to Intellectual Property Management in Health and Agricultural Innovation: A Handbook of Best Practices

Intellectual property can be a powerful tool. When effectively and ethically managed, it can both accelerate the development of lifesaving, poverty-alleviating innovations and secure access to them. Both development and access are urgently needed in health and agriculture to improve the lives of people living in poverty, particularly those in the developing world. This Executive Guide, companion to Intellectual Property Management in Health and Agricultural Innovation: A Handbook of Best Practices, on some 200 pages, summarizes best practices and implications with respect to the key elements of the Handbook described in its 17 sections (representing the main topics). The information is presented in easy-to-read one-page bulleted lists, each list targeted to a different audience: policymakers, heads of universities and R&D centers, scientists, and licensing executives. The Executive Guide will be invaluable for anyone seeking to use intellectual property strategically to put intellectual property to work.

For all who believe, as I believe, that developing countries can, and should, participate and benefit from an interconnected world of innovation, this book is an indispensable guide. --Mahmoud F. Fathalla, professor and former dean, Medical School at Assiut University, and chairperson of the WHO Advisory Committee on Health Research

At the dawn of the 21st century the world created an unprecedented wave of public-private partnerships. For such investments to bear fruit as public goods, it is paramount to manage intellectual property with the public interest in mind. This Handbook provides expert guidance to do just that and will assist in developing new capabilities in low- and middle-income countries. --Ariel Pablos-Mendez, managing director, The Rockefeller Foundation