8 the raffles conversation THE BUSINESS TIMES WEEKEND SATURDAY/SUNDAY, AUGUST 15-16, 2009 THE BUSINESS TIMES WEEKEND SATURDAY/SUNDAY, AUGUST 15-16, 2009 the raffles conversation 9

RANCIS Gurry is a pa- ‘What we need to be saying in relation to piracy is: how are you going tient listener. And when he talks, he does to finance the creation of culture? We all want books, we all want so in a slow and meas- music and we all want films. But they don’t just appear. They require ured tone – the hall- mark of a person investment of time, money and talent. Who’s going to reward the trained in the diplomat- artists? How are we going to reward the creators – in a larger sense, ic art of thinking before leaping. Both attributes are invaluable for including journalists as well – so that they can enjoy a dignified a man who’s the director-general of WIPO economic existence? If every creative expression is for free, then the F(World Intellectual Property Organiza- tion), the global body which oversees the economic model doesn’t work.’ protection of intellectual property (IP). Francis Gurry, director-general of WIPO The nature of his job ensures he’s at the centre of disputes between those who with pic of Francis Gurry taken want to defend their IP rights and others by Arthur who think these are restrictions on the spread of human knowledge. “In the field of creativity, what we need asked to move towards a carbon-free tech- WIPO is one of the 16 specialised agen- FRANCIS to be saying in relation to piracy is: how nology. But carbon-based technologies cies of the United Nations and was set up GURRY are you going to finance the creation of are often cheaper, so what’s their incen- in 1967 to encourage creative activity and Director-general culture? We all want books, we all want tive to change? And they don’t have the to promote the protection of intellectual World Intellectual Property music and we all want films. But they technologies to actually change. property throughout the world. Organisation don’t just appear. They require invest- “So a functional mechanism to actually “Our (WIPO’s) basic mission in life is to ment of time, money and talent. transfer technologies is something we encourage innovation and creativity,” ex- Born May 17, 1951 Australian “Who’s going to reward the artists? have to find and not just talk about.” plains Dr Gurry. “Our way of doing that is How are we going to reward the creators – Dr Gurry has his hands full with issues by helping in the creation of property 1974 Bachelor of Law (LLB) in a larger sense, including journalists as he wants to resolve. He has had an event- rights that encourage investment in inno- , well – so that they can enjoy a dignified ful year as director-general. “I spent an av- vation and creativity.” economic existence? If every creative ex- erage of 30-40 per cent of my time travel- Why is this so important? pression is for free, then the economic ling across the world to listen to people Dr Gurry, who hails from Australia and 1976-1979 Research Student, model doesn’t work.” and their views,” he says. has been with WIPO for most of his work- Faculty of Law, University of So, again, the short-term cost is that The Australian lawyer, who admits he ing life, notes that the environment under Cambridge (Tapp you have to pay for your music. In return, drifted into the field of IP, has spent 23 which IP is being created and viewed has studentship, Gonville and you get the long-term gain of having creat- years of his career at WIPO. Caius College, 1978-1979) undergone a radical change. ed a dynamic culture because the creator “I very much enjoy the multilateral en- “This is because knowledge is now at will create (new cultural expressions) vironment together with all its frustra- 1980 PhD University of while enjoying a decent economic exist- tions,” he says. “And I enjoy very much the centre of wealth creation. Intellectual Cambridge, . ence, he adds. capital is replacing physical capital.” Yorke Prize, Faculty of Law, the international context, perhaps be- In other words, IP is at the centrestage cause I come from an island.” of economic activity. More IP in Asia now To help himself de-stress, Dr Gurry Elaborating the point, Dr Gurry notes 1985 Joined WIPO (World Like in every other field, Dr Gurry feels the does yoga everyday and swims as often as that since the 1950s, the biggest driver of Intellectual Property rise of Asia and the developing world is possible. “And, obviously, family is an ex- economic growth has been technological Organisation) as Consultant having a major impact on the way IP tremely important part of my life,” he progress fuelled by knowledge creation. and Senior Program Officer rights are evolving. adds. “I think, in an international organisa- And protection of that knowledge – in oth- “We are seeing a reconfiguration of tion like the one I’m in, one could work 24 er words, IP – has become important to 2003-2008 Deputy technological power. We see China, India, hours a day, 365 days of the year. Family is the creators, because it provides an incen- director-general of WIPO Brazil, Korea, and a lot more a very good counterpoise to that tempta- tive for them to create. countries which have either made the tran- tion, as it shows us that there’s indeed a Interestingly, the idea that IP – or crea- October 2008 to present: sition to being a technological power- life outside of the office which is very tive knowledge – is valuable and needs to Director-general, WIPO house or are in the process of doing so.” rich.” be protected is not the product of the mod- All this means more IP is being created It’s with this important grounding in re- ern digital age, even though the issue has ARTHUR LEE in Asia than ever before. Dr Gurry notes ality that the chief of WIPO pursues his acquired a new sense of urgency now. that in 1994, Japan, South Korea and Chi- professional mission: to teach the world As far back as 1883, there was a Paris The trick is to find the right balance of says Dr Gurry. na together accounted for just 7.6 per cent that IP is not just about , trade- Convention for the Protection of Industri- incentives, both for the owner of the IP as One way to do that could be differen- of international applications; in marks and copyright. Rather, it’s about hu- al Property. This was followed, in 1886, by well as the goals of civil society. tial pricing – that is, different pricing for 2008, this figure jumped to 26.1 per cent. man endeavour – about inventiveness, cre- the Bern Convention for the Protection of “However, increasingly, we are finding different markets, the WIPO boss says. This geographical shift has important ativity and making a better world. Literary and Artistic Works. that the task of striking the right balance is “But that is something that goes implications. “When you have, for exam- [email protected] Both conventions created international a complex thing to do, particularly in a glo- against the grain of globalisation, which is ple, China arguing as a ‘developed’ coun- bureaus, which merged in 1893 to become balised world.” about creating a single market. With differ- try for patent protection, the nature of the the United International Bureaux for the The rationalist Nothing illustrates this issue better ential pricing, you start dividing up the debate will change.” Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI). In wealth creation nowadays, creative knowledge is replacing physical capital in a than the pharmaceutical industry. globe into different markets and then you Dr Gurry also calls for a differentiated In 1960, BIRPI moved from Bern to Gene- big way. The head honcho of the World Intellectual Property Organization plays a have the (new) problem of import and ex- IP system to accommodate different coun- va and, a decade later, it became WIPO. Finding a balance port and parallel import. tries. WIPO – which has 184 member nations crucial role in ensuring a fair deal – for everyone. By Amit Roy Choudhury On average, pharmaceutical companies “When you make the drug available to “I think we do need a balanced system – today helps to protect creative innova- spend around US$1.3 billion to develop a some African countries at a very low price, internationally,” he says – that is, a system tions like inventions, books, music, works new drug. Hence they need to get ade- you will also have to ensure that the drug which allows appropriate rewards but also of art, films, industrial designs and trade- quate returns on investment in order to doesn’t find its way back into the North ensures proper diffusion. which you sell to collect remuneration Dr Gurry acknowledges that the behav- knowledge of plants and animals from marks. It is also increasingly involved in sustain the development of future drugs. American or European markets where it Related to this is the need to find better The Raffles Conversation is brought which goes back to the creators of the IP. iour of some corporations has also trig- less developed societies by big corpora- the protection of IP over the Internet. “This demand for returns is perfectly costs more.” mechanisms to ensure the transfer of tech- to you through a special That’s the problem, for example, of illegal gered a social response. tions – is a word developed by civil socie- Dr Gurry notes that even though the justifiable. However, a market pricing of These are difficult issues. Dr Gurry nology to nations that need it. arrangement with Raffles Hotels & downloading of films and music over the As a result, civil society has entered in- ty. idea of protecting IP is not new, technolog- the drug to reflect the investment could feels they would be more easily resolved if “That’s been spoken about in the inter- Resorts. A collection of luxury hotels, “We have seen civil society getting in- ical change – more precisely, the onset of Internet.” to the debate and has become a stakehold- leave it out of the reach of a large part of IP had a human face. national system for years – in fact, dec- Raffles Hotels and Resorts the digital age – has resulted in a whole There is another aspect to the issue. “IP er. So the political management on the volved in the case of the Internet and free the developing world – perhaps the very The way to do that, he suggests, is to ades – but never really with satisfactory re- distinguishes itself through the new set of IP-related issues coming to the has become the convenient battleground part of the intermediary agency – WIPO – downloading of music. We’ve gone to market where the drug can do wonders. emphasise that innovation is both eco- sults,” he points out. highest standards of hospitality, fore. to express social anxiety over the underly- has become that much more difficult and such an extent that there’s a political party Then it becomes a social issue as much as nomically essential and socially desirable. Dr Gurry acknowledges that transfer of service and cuisine. Its hotels in “With the Internet, we find that all of ing direction of technology, especially in important. in Sweden called the Pirate Party, which is an economic issue. “We all want to improve our quality of life, technology works well in a market econo- Singapore, Beijing, Cambodia, Beverly the (old) methods of expressing cultural areas like the manipulation of higher or- “Social movements are very prominent dedicated to the elimination of IP, and it “So we have to find a balance between and technology ultimately enables us to my. But he notes that the reality is that Hills, Dubai and the Caribbean are products and ideas have shifted from the ganisms and the direction in which life sci- in the field of IP. You’ve seen them in ac- got 7.1 per cent of the Swedish vote in the creating the incentive to invest in innova- do that,” he says. there is market failure in many of the least rated among the very best in the physical media to the Internet.” ences is moving. tion in the case of health, pharmaceutical last European elections.” tion (in this case, creating new drugs) and And it’s not only about technology. Dr developed countries, where normal mar- world. Under development are The WIPO official adds that this means “Some of these battles, which are ethi- (industry) and in the (protection of) tradi- Dr Gurry notes that these issues have the diffusion of the social benefit of the in- Gurry feels society needs to ask the same ket mechanisms don’t work. Raffles in Tianjin, Maldives, Macau, that using the old legal models becomes cal in nature, are played out in the field of tional knowledge.” become mainstream political questions, vention – ensuring (in this case) that the questions in the field of creative expres- “This is going to be a crucial issue in Moscow, Jakarta, Marrakech, Manila, much more difficult. IP because intellectual property is the first The invention of the word “bio-piracy” and rightly so, because knowledge has be- drug reaches the most vulnerable group of sion – that is, books, music, songs, movies, the context of climate change,” he sug- Bali, Seychelles and St Lucia. “You don’t have a book, a CD or DVD social expression of any new technology.” – which refers to the taking of traditional come a means of wealth creation. people where it can do the greatest good,” dramas, TV programmes, and others. gests. “The developing countries are being