Durban climate deal needs IP decision

The United Nations conference on climate change in Durban should address outstanding issues about intellectual property or risk developing countries failing to meet mitigation targets, according to an IP expert from The Australian National University. Matthew Rimmer, an ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor at the ANU College of Law, is the author of Intellectual Property and Climate Change: Inventing Clean Technologies. He says that first-world countries can no longer ignore the topic of intellectual property. "IP should not be a taboo topic in Durban. There is a desperate need to reform the IP system to properly address concerns about the environment, global warming, and the energy crisis," said Rimmer. "The Durban talks should establish a climate commons for sharing intellectual property. "Patent law plays a critical role, especially in determining who owns clean technologies, who benefits from clean technologies and who has access to clean technologies.