Book Review: Understanding and Profiting from Intellectual Property by Deli Yang

• Author: Anuradha Swaminathan
• Position: Communications and Public Outreach Division

Part I ("IP Fundamentals") outlines the nature of the various types of IP, including both industrial property and copyright, as well as the systems, national and international, under which it operates. Part II ("IP Environments") examines IP in the context of political economy, education and culture in developed and developing countries. The next part ("IP Management") deals with the management of IP assets, personnel and products/services. The final part ("IP Strategies") is possibly the most advisory, and goes into the global commercialization of IP, considering matters such as marketing concerns, contracting and licensing IP, combating piracy and counterfeiting and using the most suitable partnerships to maximize benefits from IP.

The author has undertaken a formidable task with serious scholarship (viz. her copious references to other works) and analytical intent - no less than the whole socio-economic and political scope of IP in the national and international business context. Her dilemma, as she realizes, is that, though analyze she must, her material does not always permit definitive judgments. She is commendably cautious about using an economist's tools to extrapolate hard evidence, commenting that the use of empirical study to determine the effects of IP on foreign direct investment is hampered by "lack of data on international FDI flows and measurement standards, and the inadequacy of econometric models." Such caution should also be extended to her direct comparison between the World Trade Organiztion's perceived strength in its ability to enforce its dispute settlements and WIPO's perceived weakness therein: their respective terms of reference and their corresponding structural and functional differences are such that WTO may enforce - but with the risks...