Introduction to the Washington Declaration on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest

Abstract

The last weekend in August 2011, nearly 200 international intellectual property scholars and policy advocates gathered in Washington D.C. to “re-articulate the public interest dimension in intellectual property law and policy.” The meeting — christened the “inaugural Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest” — produced the Washington Declaration on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest. This introduction provides a brief overview of the genesis of the network that was assembled at the Congress and of the process used to create its Declaration.

Keywords: intellectual property, international intellectual property, public interest