The number in the graph above, based on data from the International Monetary Fund, is not an exaggeration. Despite the growing technological and industrial capacity of countries in the Global South, countries and corporations in the Global North continue to own intellectual property patents on key products, locking the South into indefinite patent payment regimes. These include patent payments for pharmaceuticals, digital technologies (such as licensing fees for software and telecommunications infrastructure), and agricultural goods (such as genetically modified seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and equipment).

The post The Global North Lives Off Intellectual Rents appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.