A fight over intellectual property rights is shaping up to become one of the thorniest issues in climate change as poor nations fight for greater access to low-carbon technologies...The debate promises to be a fierce one, as battles over ownership and rights always are. Those lobbying to keep patent protections strong say unraveling the system will only dry up innovation. Moreover, they note that developing pills is, from an intellectual property point of view, far simpler than inventing a new type of power plant or water purification system -- the creation of which might include dozens or hundreds of patents. Finally, they warn, weakening protections could cause key U.S. support for a climate treaty to shrivel.
"A lot of this stems from the idea of historical responsibility, and we understand that," said Stephen Eule, vice president for climate and technology at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy. But, he said, "Politically, in the United States, it's going to be very difficult. I can't imagine any Senate, Democrat or Republican, agreeing to a treaty that will be a dagger in the heart of intellectual property rights. Once you start tinkering with those, you're on really shaky ground, and you really don't want to kill the goose that's laying the golden egg."
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Eule, however, said industry isn't taking any chances and will be fighting any attempts to fiddle with intellectual property laws. "This is something we're very concerned about and something we're keeping a close eye on," he said. "This could be a deal-killer."