THE INSTITUTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION IN THE FACE OF ECONOMIC CRISIS

Abstract

Nowadays proper protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is particularly important for strengthening and accelerating economic growth and development. Contemporary society is in transition, from community which wealth is based on tangible assets, to a community which relies mainly on intangible resources. IPR are understood as an institution which guarantees the access to these resources and secures the legal rights of owners. In modern world there are many factors which influence the necessity of stronger IRR protection. Some of them appeared especially during times of economic slowdowns, when the IPR are specially exposed to illegal actions. If the legal system is properly organized and the law is enforced the intellectual property rights seem to be secure. Unfortunately the process of globalization, lack of technical barriers in information flow, decreasing purchasing power of households and poor economic situation of firms operating in competitive environment increase the uncertainty and possibility of illegal actions especially during recession. The main aim of paper is to identify the channels through which financial crisis affected world economy and intellectual property rights protection. It can be done by describing mutual relationship between the IPR protection and business cycle, mainly phases of recession. The first part of the paper shows the current state of knowledge. Then in the second part the main analyzed economic categories are briefly described. In the last part of the paper the relationship between economic crisis and IPR protection is presented in the context of institutions.