Some Companies Fear Property Right Loss Risk In Spread Of Cleantech
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday launched a broad lobbying campaign to protect patent laws in an upcoming international climate change treaty.
At issue are intellectual property licensing fees, which some countries argue are too high and hinder their ability to deploy the “green” technology they need to invest in a low-carbon future.
But executives with General Electric Co., as well as smaller solar and clean technology firms, say that countries like China are simply using global warming as an excuse to weaken patent protections. Intellectual property rights, they maintain, help spur clean energy innovations, and weakening them would damage technological efforts toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
