Patent protection and sustainable development in Latin America: conditions for policy integration

Policy integration is one of the main challenges in promoting sustainable development. Global governance mechanisms, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlight the importance of coordinating different policies to promote effective outcomes. However, these mechanisms often overlook how trade regulation, such as patent protection, impacts sustainability.

Patent protection can affect the achievement of several SDGs, including public health, energy transition, and food security. While granting monopoly rights to patent holders can incentivise local innovation, it can also affect how developing countries access technologies crucial for sustainable development.

Employing a mixed-method research design and drawing on international and comparative political economy theories, Alex's PhD research interrogates how Latin American countries have promoted sustainability goals in recent patent regulation. His research identifies the conditions that enable the integration of patent protection and sustainable development and demonstrates how competing public and private interests shape policymaking for sustainability.

This seminar is Alex's final presentation of his doctoral candidature.

About the speaker

Alex San Martim Portes is a PhD Scholar at the Australian National University's School of Regulation and Global Governance. His research focuses on the intersection of trade regulation and socioeconomic/sustainable development. He investigates how trade agreements affect developing countries' capacity to design public policy and how emerging forms of domestic regulation affect international trade. Alex is an interdisciplinary researcher who studies international political economy, intellectual property rights, trade law, climate change, human rights, sustainability, and mixed-methods.

This seminar presentation will be online-only.

Image credit: Abstract illustration of patent process flowchart by Adrienne Yancey for opensource.com, from flickr, used under CCBY-SA 2.0 licence