Team
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Alex is a PhD Scholar and Research Officer at the Australian National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet). His research examines the intersection of intellectual property rights and sustainability, focussing on the domestic and international political economy of trade and sustainable development policies. In his PhD thesis, he looks at how Latin American countries integrate patent protection and sustainable development in the fields of public health, energy transition, and biodiversity conservation. Alex’s research interests also include trade and climate change, green industrial policy, and the global governance of climate and sustainability.
Research interest
Intellectual Property Rights; Sustainable Development; Trade; Climate Change; Industrial Policy
Peer-reviewed articles
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San Martim Portes, A., Venâncio, M. & Gonçalves, L. Geographic Indications in Brazil and their socio-environmental dimensions: gaps and opportunities of the Brazilian GI regulation for agricultural products, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, Volume 16, Issue 4-5, April-May 2021, Pages 384–393.
Geographic Indications (GIs) are an internationally recognised form of protection for goods based on their quality or reputation and a fairly recent instrument in Brazilian law. In this context, there is an ongoing discussion in academia regarding the relevance of GIs as a tool to promote the sustainable development of territories. This debate considers that there is a strong connection between a good’s reputation and quality and its traditional and sustainable production practices. This research aims to understand how Brazilian GI regulation of agricultural products protects and encompasses socio-environmental sustainability dimensions, discussing the main gaps and opportunities thereof. For that, from an interdisciplinary perspective, this study provides a small-N qualitative content analysis of 30 Brazilian GIs, identifying their socio-environmental provisions, and debating whether GIs can become a mechanism for greater environmental protection in Brazil.