Israel's High-Tech Catch-Up Process: The Role of IPR and Other Policies

This chapter discusses the experience of Israel. At the time of its independence in 1948, its people came from different parts of the world, providing them with international orientation from the beginning. As a result, many of the businesses targeted foreign markets, mainly USA and Europe, and were more concerned with the intellectual property regime in these foreign countries than Israel's own. Together with public support for innovation and military-related expenditure, some startup firms, mainly in information technologies, grew and succeeded in IPO (initial public offering) or selling themselves. Another successful case is Teva, now the largest generic drug producer. It benefited from the patent law amendment in 1967, which allowed local firms to copy patented drugs if the patent owners did not market them in Israel. This provision was dropped after TRIPS; however, Teva had accumulated process technologies by then.