Pugatch, Meir Perez --- "Conclusion: Placing IPRs at the Heart of the Public Discourse" [2006] ELECD 338; in Pugatch, Perez Meir (ed), "The Intellectual Property Debate" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: The Intellectual Property Debate

Editor(s): Pugatch, Perez Meir

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845420383

Section Title: Conclusion: Placing IPRs at the Heart of the Public Discourse

Author(s): Pugatch, Meir Perez

Number of pages: 4

Extract:

Conclusion: placing IPRs at the heart of
the public discourse
Meir Perez Pugatch

One of the most straightforward conclusions of this book is that there is
no single conclusion ­ at this point of time ­ on the current system of IPRs.
Nor was it the intention of this book to suggest that there can be one single
conclusion or one view or one approach that we should adopt when study-
ing the field. On the contrary, if there is one thing that this book does
suggest is that the debates and dispute surrounding the IP filed have not
been narrowed or toned down over time, but rather the opposite.
But this also means another very important thing: IPRs ­ even when not
treated as such ­ have a very real and extensive effect on our lives, including
those of us who are not familiar with the IP field. Regardless of the positive
or negative views expressed in this book, the different contributors seem to
suggest that IPRs touch upon many aspects of our lives, from the very basic
elements to the most sophisticated ones. Evidently, IPRs have an impact on
the foods that we eat, the medicines that we require and the entertainment
that we consume. IPRs will have an effect on the availabilty of these prod-
ucts, their prices and their compositions. IPRs have become an inseparable
part of our knowledge-based economies and the so-called information
society. IPRs affect the way in which we evaluate, commercialize and utilize
different knowledge ...