Pacific Islands have “abundance of wealth”, says intellectual property expert

Date:  Fri, 2008-10-24

Pacific Islands have “abundance of wealth”, says intellectual property expert

Nuku’alofa, Tonga − October 24, 2008 −−PACIFIC Island governments could change their view of their natural wealth, from one of being limited and based mainly on fisheries and agriculture, “to one that we have an abundance of wealth,” believes Dr David Martin an expert on intellectual property, who is visiting Tonga.

International Conventions and local Intellectual Property legislations are one-sided in favour of multinationals, and offer no protection for indigenous knowledge and creativity, he said in Nuku’alofa on October 20.

Dr Martin believed that the USA, the Europeans and Japan did not have the best interests of Tonga and the region in mind when they drafted their rules on Intellectual Property. “Their interest is for the advantage of the multinationals.”