Breaking Down Barriers to Technology Transfer : Reforming WTO Standard-Setting Rules and Establishing an Advisory Facility in Standard-Setting for Developing & Least Developed Countries

This chapter focuses on a subject that might be considered as somewhat specialized or even 'arcane' in the technology transfer debate, but one which I will argue is really quite central to facilitating technology transfer to developing and least developing countries: my topic is technology standard-setting. I have included two concrete proposals. Much has been written about intellectual property (’IP’) and its relevance to technology transfer. In the international context, there has been extended debate about the impact of intellectual property rights on economic development, trade, and technology transfer. However, the standard-setting process is also integrally related to technology transfer, and this carries important implications for developing and "least developed" countries. Currently, these countries are largely marginalized or excluded from important standard-setting processes. Without 'access' or the knowledge and understanding to productively participate in these standards processes, developing and least developed countries are caught in a difficult and negative cycle, in which their exclusion breeds lack of innovation and continuing technological backwardness. In this chapter I approach this problem on two levels. First, I propose changes within the WTO system, in particular, focusing on the rules associated with the WTO’s Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade ('TBT Agreement'), to facilitate fairness in the international standard-setting where intellectual property rights are involved, and thereby benefiting developing and least developed countries. Second, I also propose a new mechanism to facilitate increased understanding of and participation in the standard-setting process by developing and least developed countries