Despite the lack of real agreement in Copenhagen, there is clearly a consensus among the nations gathered that climate change must be addressed.  All agree as well that new and innovative technologies will be critical to helping nations deal with global warming adaptation and mitigation.  Most of these innovations will come from the private sector, which has been expending a great deal of time, effort, and resources—with much more to follow—on these cutting edge technologies. Protecting the intellectual property (IP) rights of these firms and inventors will be critical to both incentivizing their continued investments, and helping spread the knowledge gained from such research and development.  Read more…