The Patent System and Indigenous Technology Development in the Third World

Abstract

The patent system in the broader sense including the utility model system2 is probably the most conventional and also one of the most powerful policy instruments that have been used for the development and diffusion of new technologies. Together with Venice, England is one of the two lands of origin of the patent system. Here, a patent system was introduced under Edward III in the early fourteenth century for the above purpose. In the second half of the sixteenth century under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, William Cecil, Secretary of State and later Lord Treasurer, ‘was exceedingly anxious to develop English industry of every kind, so that the country might not only become economically independent, and be able to dispense with some of its imports, but might also have valuable commodities to export to foreign markets. The best hope of bringing about a considerable improvement at small cost, lay in the granting of patents to men who had enterprise enough to plant a new art, or introduce a new manufacture’.3 A remarkable example in modern times is related to Japanese industries, where a recent survey discovered that the patent system was considered to be a primary incentive to industrial invention by firms.4 KeywordsPatent ApplicationInventive ActivityUtility ModelPatent SystemPatent OfficeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.