Intellectual Property and International Trade: The TRIPS Agreement


Book Description

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is the most far-reaching and comprehensive legal regime ever concluded at the multilateral level in the area of intellectual property rights (IPR). Compared to prior IPR conventions, TRIPS constitutes a major qualitative leap which radically modifies not only the context in which IPR are considered internationally, but also their substantive content and the methods for their enforcement and dispute settlement. This much-welcomed treatise, now in its third edition, thoroughly updates its comprehensive analysis of the substantive provisions of the Agreement and their actual interpretation and application in different jurisdictions, with new material on the burgeoning case law and on major changes in plant variety protection. As in previous editions, the book may be relied upon for in-depth clarification of such matters as the following: • standards established under the agreement; • enforcement measures; • social and legal issues; • legal and policy possibilities offered; • legislative latitude allowed to WTO Member States; • incorporation of TRIPS into domestic law; • protection of integrated circuit design; • protection of innovation and R&D for diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries; • challenges raised by ongoing technological changes; • access to medicines; • protection of confidential (undisclosed) information; and • interface between competition law and intellectual property protection. With fifteen chapters contributed by a distinguished panel of experts representing diverse parties — international organisations, legal practice, government policy, and academia — the third edition offers an incomparable framework for understanding the background, principles, and complex provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. Thoroughly revised and updated, the third edition will be of great value to all professionals and business people concerned with international trade. It stimulates further discussion and analysis in this area of growing importance to international law and international economic relations, particularly regarding the possibilities offered by the Agreement and the loose ends that may need consideration in the future at the national or international level.




Intellectual Property Rights and International Trade


Book Description

Introduction -- Intellectual property rights basics -- Global intellectual property holdings -- Contribution of intellectual property to U.S. economy -- The organized structure of IPR protection -- U.S. trade law -- Issues for Congress.




Private Rights and Public Problems


Book Description

Consumers constantly confront intellectual property rights (IPRs) every day, from their morning cup of Starbucks coffee to the Intel chip on their computer at work. Intellectual property rights help protect creative inventions in the form of trademarks, copyrights, and patents. Despite legal protection, many goods--including music and video files--are easily copied or shared, which affects industries, innovators, and customers. In his follow-up to one of the most popular PIIE titles of all time, Keith Maskus looks at the expansion of private legal rights into international trade markets, not only for technological items but also for international public goods like vaccines and prescription drugs. Private Rights and Public Problems assesses IPR issues for users, producers, and innovators and the difficulty of establishing an international policy regime that governs IPRs in all markets. Post-industrial countries have preferential terms for licensing and selling products, in part because they develop more global brands and products. Maskus observes that in these countries the primacy of private property raises contentious international debate between innovation owners in rich countries and followers and users in emerging and poor countries. Maskus explores if increased privacy regulations limit innovation and pose artificial and real barriers, such as decreased information accessibility and increased cost. This book addresses a fundamental issue: should basic scientific and technological knowledge be commoditized? In this guide to the current global impact of IPRs, the author analyzes the economic contribution of IPRs underlying features: innovation and access to international technologies.




Intellectual Property and Public Health in the Developing World


Book Description

Across the world, developing countries are attempting to balance the international standards of intellectual property concerning pharmaceutical patents against the urgent need for accessible and affordable medicines. In this timely and necessary book, Monirul Azam examines the attempts of several developing countries to walk this fine line. He evaluates the experiences of Brazil, China, India, and South Africa for lessons to guide Bangladesh and developing nations everywhere. Azam's legal expertise, concern for public welfare, and compelling grasp of principal case studies make Intellectual Property and Public Health in the Developing World a definitive work. The developing world is striving to meet the requirements of the World Trade Organization's TRIPS Agreement on intellectual property. This book sets out with lucidity and insight the background of the TRIPS Agreement and its implications for pharmaceutical patents, the consequences for developing countries, and the efforts of certain representative nations to comply with international stipulations while still maintaining local industry and public health. Azam then brings the weight of this research to bear on the particular case of Bangladesh, offering a number of specific policy recommendations for the Bangladeshi government—and for governments the world over. Intellectual Property and Public Health in the Developing World is a must-read for public policy-makers, academics and students, non-governmental organizations, and readers everywhere who are interested in making sure that developing nations meet the health care needs of their people.




Competition Policy and Intellectual Property in Today's Global Economy


Book Description

The fast-evolving relationship between the promotion of welfare-enhancing competition and the balanced protection of intellectual property (IP) rights has attracted the attention of policymakers, analysts and scholars. This interest is inevitable in an environment that lays ever greater emphasis on the management of knowledge and innovation and on mechanisms to ensure that the public derives the expected social and economic benefits from this innovation and the spread of knowledge. This book looks at the positive linkage between IP and competition in jurisdictions around the world, surveying developments and policy issues from an international and comparative perspective. It includes analysis of key doctrinal and policy issues by leading academics and practitioners from around the globe and a cutting-edge survey of related developments across both developed and developing economies. It also situates current policy developments at the national level in the context of multilateral developments, at WIPO, WTO and elsewhere.




The Intellectual Property Debate


Book Description

. . . a lovely little book which is full of telling points. Read it and you won t be disappointed. Jeremy Phillips, IPkat.com Meir Pugatch has done an excellent job by assembling an international and diverse cast of contributing authors, who have offered new insights into a broad span of the most pressing IP-related issues. . . a collection of high quality articles by eminent authorities on IPR is very useful for scholars in the academic fields of law, practitioners, and government officials interested in the field of international trade and intellectual property policy; intellectual property law, technology transfer and valuation and international business. Madhu Sahni, Journal of Intellectual Property Rights Intellectual property (IP) has become one of the most influential and controversial issues in today s knowledge-based society. This challenging book exposes the reader to key issues at the heart of the public debate now taking place in the field of IP. It considers IP at the macro level where it affects many issues. These include: international trade policy, ownership of breakthrough technologies, foreign direct investment, innovation climates, public private partnerships, competition rules and public health where it is strongly embedded in contemporary business decision making. Meir Pugatch has assembled an international and diverse cast of contributing authors, who offer new insights into a broad span of the most pressing IP-related issues. They shed light on the increasing dominance of IP in the design and execution of basic and applied research, the evaluation of intangible assets, and the protection and management of knowledge assets, underscoring its importance in relation to national economic development strategies and business strategies of knowledge-based industries and companies. The Intellectual Property Debate will appeal to scholars, practitioners, and government officials interested in the fields of international trade and intellectual property policy, intellectual property law, technology transfer and valuation, and international business.







Global Dimensions of Intellectual Property Rights in Science and Technology


Book Description

As technological developments multiply around the globeâ€"even as the patenting of human genes comes under serious discussionâ€"nations, companies, and researchers find themselves in conflict over intellectual property rights (IPRs). Now, an international group of experts presents the first multidisciplinary look at IPRs in an age of explosive growth in science and technology. This thought-provoking volume offers an update on current international IPR negotiations and includes case studies on software, computer chips, optoelectronics, and biotechnologyâ€"areas characterized by high development cost and easy reproducibility. The volume covers these and other issues: Modern economic theory as a basis for approaching international IPRs. U.S. intellectual property practices versus those in Japan, India, the European Community, and the developing and newly industrializing countries. Trends in science and technology and how they affect IPRs. Pros and cons of a uniform international IPRs regime versus a system reflecting national differences.




The Object and Purpose of Intellectual Property


Book Description

Much of the debate around the parameters of intellectual property (IP) protection relates to differing views about what IP law is supposed to achieve. This book analyses the object and purpose of international intellectual property law, examining how international agreements have been interpreted in different jurisdictions and how this has led to diversity in IP regimes at a national level.




Private Power, Public Law


Book Description

Analysis of the power of multinational corporations in moulding international law on intellectual property rights.