The propensity of firms to patent has increased significantly, patent applications and grants have soared, although this does not necessarily mean that the quality of the output of patent activities has improved. Mr. Braga then outlined the two main objectives of the seminar.
Agreement means for developing countries.
Mr. Braga concluded his introductory remarks by pointing out that there are many questions, but yet not many answers. Keith Maskus emphasized that from an economic point of view, it is very difficult to make normative statements or explicit comments on the economic development impact of IPRs protection. Intellectual property rights are very difficult, hugely interrelated processes. One major difficulty economists face in evaluating the effects of IPRs is that the causation between IPRs and such international transactions often runs two-way. If one looks at the worldwide picture of IPRs protection and economic development, one finds, for example, that the strength of patent rights tends to diminish in strength as countries grow until medium income and then strengthen again.