525. I would like to thank all the co-sponsors for presenting on this agenda item on IP and Entrepreneurialism. Our delegation welcomes the debate as it can create the possibility of deepening the understanding of features of the intellectual property system related to the achievement of the objective of Article 7 of the TRIPS Agreement which states that "The protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights should contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations." At the outset, as it was also stated by other delegations, it is important to highlight that patents are far from being the single element driving innovation, it is only one in a larger mix of different tools that promote innovation. Having the right infrastructure for innovation, collaboration and research, the flow of ideas among different innovation players and access to knowledge are often more important ingredients of innovation.
526. Even as one element of a larger mix of ingredients of innovation, in order to play a positive role in fostering it, intellectual property must work properly. When this is not the case, IP can work counter to innovation and innovators. A patent system that issues an expressive number of low-quality patents generates uncertainty, and can represent an additional barrier to entrepreneurs. This scenario was accurately described by Jaffe and Lerner in the book Innovation and its Discontent. According to Jaffe and Lerner "the sand in the gears of the innovation machine is that companies and individuals must constantly fear that their research and product development may come to nothing, because someone is going to assert an as yet unknown or untested patent against them. Further, when such an assertion of patent infringement is made, the uncertainty about the ability to defend against that assertion often leads either to abandonment of the allegedly infringing technology, or to an agreement to pay possibly unnecessary royalties." Regarding national experiences in supporting entrepreneurialism, in order to allow more time for discussion and approval of the extension of waivers for least-developed countries, I would like to refer back to my delegation's previous interventions under the agenda items related to innovation.
