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…)
Towards a Digital Agenda for Developing Countries.
The last two decades of the 20th century saw a revolution in the nature of information and the way that it can be created, used and transmitted. Vast opportunities have been opened up. Developing countries, that have insufficient capacity to generate, disseminate and effectively utilize educational information and knowledge, may finally be in a position to accelerate their development. (more…)
The Threat of Technological Protection Measures to a Development-Oriented Information Society.
The new digital environment offers both opportunities and challenges for developing countries. New international legal requirements with respect to the protection of technological measures that can be used by copyright owners to control access and use of their works can hinder the ability of developing countries to promote access to knowledge for development. (more…)
The Proposed WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting and Cablecasting Organizations.
Discussions for a new treaty to protect broadcasting and cablecasting organizations against signal theft at the WIPO are closely linked to the information evolution. Member States must carefully balance between granting increased protection to certain segments of broadcasting media to protect their commercial interests with safeguarding the public interest in access and use of the content that is broadcast. (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…)
A Development Analysis of the proposed WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting & Cablecasting.
Since 1998, Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have discussed the creation of a new international instrument for the protection of broadcasting organizations. It is possible that final negotiations on a treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations, including cablecasting organizations, will be initiated and conclude sometime in 2007. (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.
THE USE OF FLEXIBILITIES IN TRIPS BY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: Can they Promote Access to Medicines?
This study was commissioned to: (1) examine the extent to which the flexibilities contained in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) have been incorporated into the legislation of developing countries and the extent of the actual use for public health purposes; (2) review the stated trade policies of major industrialized countries, particularly the United States and the European Union , vis-à-vis developing countries, to determine whether they take adequate account of the public health priorities of developing countries; and (3) examine the practical effect and implications of recently concluded bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) for public health protection in developing countries. The study has been compiled based on existing literature and other available evidence.
Overall, the study finds that the use of TRIPS flexibilities can promote access to medicines in developing countries. Most developing countries whose laws and practices we reviewed had incorporated one or more of the TRIPS flexibilities and there has been increasing usage of these flexibilities such as compulsory licensing for public health purposes. However, there remain important gaps both in terms of incorporation and usage of flexibilities, which will need to be addressed if the TRIPS flexibilities are to be used effectively across the developing world.
With respect to the stated trade policies of the United States and the EU relating to the protection of intellectual property in third countries, especially developing countries, we find that although some concern for the public health needs of developing countries is reflected, in general, the policies fail to adequately take into account the public health priorities of developing country trading partners.
Finally, with respect to FTAs, we find that a number of provisions in recently concluded FTAs between developed countries (essentially the United States) and developing countries, pose a real risk of undermining the effective use of TRIPS flexibilities in developing countries for public health purposes.
THE USE OF FLEXIBILITIES IN TRIPS BY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: Can they Promote Access to Medicines?
