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Research has demonstrated that the effects of intellectual property right (IPR) protection on firm research and competitive strategies are varied. This dissertation quantifies the dynamic effects of IPR protection along different dimensions. First, I show that countries choose different levels of IPR protection and develop a model to replicate these differences. This model enables me to assess the quantitative effects of trade, as well as the welfare impacts of global harmonization to a single IPR standard. Second, I explore whether IPR protection in the US is too strong. I develop a model in which firms make production and innovation decisions conditional on endogenous technological spillovers. I fit the model to key moments from US data and show that weakening patent protection is welfare decreasing. Thirdly, I show that changing US IPR standards during the 1980s had little real effect on the US Semiconductor industry vis-a-vis exogenous changes in market demand. / text

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Because of the importance attached to intangible assets in the modern world, the remedies for intellectual property infringement have been brought under the spotlight.  In this background, there has been an increased interest regarding the scope and desirability of using criminal sanctions for the protection of IPR, especially in cases involving commercial-scale counterfeiting and piracy.  However, this development has been received with mixed sentiments, with some commentators criticising the legitimacy of using criminal law for the protection of private property rights. This thesis undertakes a search for a coherent justification for criminalising intellectual property infringement.  The thesis also attempts to demonstrate the evolution and progression of criminal enforcement of IPR at the international level.  Furthermore, the thesis analyses crosscutting issues encountered by developing countries when enforcing criminal sanctions, thereby explaining the reluctance to reform criminal remedies for IPR infringement in these countries.  The thesis identifies criminal sanctions as a desirable remedy for countering the rising threat of piracy and counterfeiting.  It also highlights the achievements and shortcomings of multilateral actions taken thus far in relation to criminal IPR enforcement, thereby providing valuable insights for future negotiations.  Finally, it emphasises that a criminal IPR enforcement regime in any jurisdiction should be evaluated with caution, giving due consideration to other economic development interests and priorities of developing countries.

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South Africa is a biologically diverse but technologically less advanced economy. Like many other developing countries in the world, its biodiversity is exposed to danger due to certain human activities. Among these, patents are charged as the easiest routing for misappropriation of indigenous biological resources and traditional knowledge associated therewith. Being member of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, South Africa is under obligation to ensure that its patent system supports the Convention's objectives including biodiversity conservation and sustainable use rather than its destruction and decline. The purpose of this dissertation is not only to dilute this misconception about South African patent system but to prove that with an access and benefit sharing mechanism it is an effective tool for biodiversity conservation, capacity-building and industrial development in the country. To make the system more protective of the rights of the indigenous communities, various modifications have also been proposed in the existing stature of the Act.