When stronger IP protection hurts innovationAdvanced technology has become a key theatre of global competition, and homegrown innovations are increasingly viewed as critical to national sovereignty and security. The conventional economic wisdom is that intellectual-property (IP) rights play a critical role in stimulating innovation, and that policymakers would be wise to focus on vigorous enforcement. These experiences have contributed to a shift in the conventional economic-policy prescription, with even international organisations recommending a more flexible approach to IP rights for developing economies. Patents are the most common form of IP protection in industrial innovation, but there are also utility models, which provide second-tier protection for minor inventions (though they do not cover innovative processes or methods of production). Alternative forms of IP protection, and a weaker overall regime, can enable latecomers to build their capabilities through imitation and minor innovation before reaching the point at which they can produce high-level patentable inventions.

Source: Bangkok Post March 02, 2026 01:04 UTC