Policy Space for Domestic Public Interest Measures Under TRIPS.
This paper examines the scope of policy space available to integrate economic, social and environmental concerns under the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). (more…)
IPR Misuse: The Core Issue in Standards and Patents.
Standards cover nearly all fields, including pharmaceuticals, food production, the environment, energy, information and telecommunications. Problems arise when IPRs are included in standards and a balance cannot be struck between the private interests of IPR owners and the integrity of standardization. (more…)
WCO SECURE: Lessons Learnt From the Abortion Of the TRIP-Plus-Plus IP Enforcement Initiative.
The objective of this research paper is to extract lessons from the negotiation process of SECURE, an initiative to promote TRIPS-plus-plus standards on IP enforcement at the WCO, and assist developing countries in addressing the emerging global challenges in IP enforcement initiatives. (more…)
Patent Counts as Indicators of the Geography of Innovation Activities: Problem and Perspectives.
This Research Paper challenges the conceptual basis of patent counts being relied upon as indicators of innovation for assessing cross-country performance and for the purposes of understanding the geography of innovation in a particular location. (more…)
Implementing the WIPO Development Agenda: Next Steps Forward.
WIPO Member States agreed to a new agenda to guide the organizations work on development and intellectual property (IP). The challenge now is to effectively implement the agenda to achieve concrete results and change. (more…)
The Changing Structure and Governance of Intellectual Property Enforcement.
Twelve years ago the TRIPS Agreement introduced global minimum standards of intellectual property protection and enforcement. To the extent that the substantive obligations under the Agreement have now been widely implemented in national legislation, developing countries are facing increased pressure to bolster intellectual property enforcement. (more…)
Who Should Bear the TRIPS Enforcement Cost?.
Establishing and strengthening the enforcement of intellectual property rights is a costly exercise both in terms of budgetary outlays and the employment of skilled personnel. It is particularly expensive for many developing countries, as economic benefits will go largely to foreign firms over the intermediate term. (more…)
Analysis of the role of the South-South Cooperation to promote governance on intellectual property rights and development.
The international regime on IP rights is currently made up of a patchwork of laws and institutions at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels with a growing number of players. The TRIPS Agreement of the WTO forms the core instrument with critical influence on the role of international actors and the scope of national policy making. TRIPS aim at reducing the North-South tension on IP rights protection through a multilateral system as one of its objectives. (more…)
Mandatory Disclosure of the Source and Origin of Biological Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge under the TRIPS Agreement.
The discussion on TRIPS and CBD in the WTO demonstrates the growing convergence on content, scope, relevance and effectiveness of an international mandatory obligation on disclosure of source and country providing biological resources and traditional knowledge. (more…)
Development and Intellectual Property under the EPA Negotiations.
The negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the African Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) are likely to result in additional layers of intellectual property right protection, at least in the case of the agreement with Cariforum countries. (more…)
IP rights under investment agreements: The TRIPs-plus implications for enforcement and protection of public interest.
The proliferation of investment and IP agreements raises fundamental questions on the relationship between such agreements and the implementation of national policies for economic development. (more…)
How Developing Countries Can Manage Intellectual Property Rights to Maximize Access to Knowledge
This book addresses the debate on access to knowledge in three parts. Part I describes some of the challenges for access to knowledge. Part II of the book provides an account of recent developments in multilateral forums. Part III of the book seeks to advance the strategic considerations that should be useful to developing countries in addressing the challenges with regard to access to knowledge. It is hoped that the analysis, conclusions and recommendations presented in this book will contribute to a better understanding of the challenges to access to knowledge and of how to frame development-oriented policies to address them. The book is intended to reach a broad set of readers: it provides guidelines for developing countries’ governments in participating in multilateral and bilateral negotiations as well as to design national IP regimes consistent with those countries’ development objectives. It may also be of value to scholars, teachers, and students whose interests cover such areas as law, economics, political economy, diplomacy, international relations and other social science fields.
