The OECD on Innovation: Once Again

Hardly a month goes by without some new pronouncement by a respected body on the subject of innovation. My particular interest is seeing how these efforts view the role of IP within the larger framework of innovation. While it certainly is the case that IP rights are not identical to innovation, there surely is a relationship between them. However, what that relationship is, and how governments may contribute to it, are both questions to which the answers remain elusive.

The latest effort bears the imprimatur of both the OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development) and The Economist mgazine. In its May 29 issue, under the title "Growth on the Cheap: Promoting Innovation", there is a discussion based on a conference organized by OECD (described in the article as "[t]he rich-country think-tank") on how governments can do a better job "at spurring and measuring innovation." Since I was not at the conference (no surprise there), I rely on the summary set out in the magazine article. Two points caught my eye.