Position statement
IBM believes in a strong, global, intellectual property system that encourages innovation.
To be effective, an intellectual property policy regime must strike the appropriate balance between protecting the economic rights of inventors and meeting the needs of society by advancing the progress of science. The dual goals of rewarding the creative process while also furthering innovation have been the rationale for intellectual property protection for hundreds of years. They remain so today.
IBM
IBM is among the world's most prolific creators of intellectual property and we are the leader within our own industry. IBM, at its core, is an innovation company and it is through that prism that we view our public policy objectives. We believe innovation ultimately is the means by which new industries are created, science is advanced and social goals are served.
IP law and policy is central to innovation. We believe that IP policy needs to be dependable and certain, but in this dynamic area of technology it also needs to be relevant and reflect the reality of today's information-based world economy.
In short, IP policy cannot remain static indefinitely. Policy makers must create contemporary IP policies that recognize the evolution of technology such as the Internet, embrace the emergence of new forms of collaboration and the need to further global innovation.
We strongly support the development of open, industry standards as a key to fostering competition and driving innovation in the IT sector and believe IP laws should further that goal. We also believe open source and commercial software are both important parts of a contemporary IT marketplace. Open source software and commercial software solutions can and should coexist and complement one another. Government policies, including IP policies, should not discriminate against either software development model but rather should accommodate both.
The Changing Environment for Innovation
We believe a new era of "collaborative innovation" is unfolding. Collaborative innovation will be central to improving and maintaining economic competitiveness across a broad set of industries.
The innovation model in the early industrial age was predominantly one of individual genius. We believe proprietary invention remains an essential part of the innovation process. However, collaborative innovation has become increasingly necessary in business and society in general. The problems that really matter are growing much too complex to be solved in a single lab or by a single company or industry.
The emergence of open source software, such as Linux, underscores the power of the collaborative processes to reach across borders and institutions. But in reality, collaboration among communities of interest is nothing new. Openness and collaboration are the ethos of modern science.
What has changed is the ability of technology and networks to facilitate collaborative innovation on a global, pervasive scale that reaches across multiple disciplines and industries. The collaborative forms of innovation that are emerging in multiple industries will play a critical role in addressing the needs of societies around the world.
To encourage collaborative innovation, governments will need to adapt their laws and policies, including IP policies, to render them better suited to the cross-organizational, cross-border nature of collaborative innovation.
Policy Environment
There are many stakeholders in any discussion of intellectual property.
IP policy must necessarily be global, given the worldwide nature of innovation. We are committed to working with the relevant stakeholders, to ensure IP policies and practices remain balanced, contemporary and fair.
We believe this is an appropriate time, particularly within the IT industry, to take a close look at what is working well within the global intellectual property regime and where measured, incremental changes should be made that will ensure the twin goals of rewarding creativity and furthering global innovation.
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