Matthew Kennedy exposes the challenges created by the integration and independence of TRIPS within the WTO.

The GATT and WTO dispute settlement systems have become the most frequently used international mechanisms for the settlement of trade disputes among governments. The 1994 Agreement Establishing the WTO introduced a historically unprecedented new dispute settlement procedure for conflicts involving trade in goods and services, trade-related investment measures, and intellectual property rights. This procedure provided for the compulsory jurisdiction of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, WTO Panels, and the WTO Appellate Body. The first 18 months from the time the WTO Agreement came into force on 1 January 1995 witnessed more than 50 invocations of the new dispute settlement procedures by a large number of countries, including many from the developing world. This large response, and the proposals for further extending the scope of WTO law, suggest that the WTO dispute settlement system will continue to be the most frequently applied, worldwide systems for the legal settlement of trade disputes among governments. This book provides students, lawyers and diplomats a thought-provoking and practice-oriented analysis of the GATT/WTO dispute settlement rules, procedures, and problems. The Annexes include a useful collection of relevant texts and tables of past GATT and WTO case law.

WTO authors provide a comprehensive explanation of the WTO Agreement on Trade-related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

The WTO dispute settlement system plays an important role in clarifying and enforcing the legal obligations contained in the WTO Agreement. It has gained a strong practical relevance as more than 300 disputes have been brought from 1 January 1995 through October 2003. While dispute settlement is certainly not the only activity taking place within the WTO, it has become an important part of the practical reality of the Organization. WTO dispute settlement has also become an important tool in the management by WTO Members of their international economic relations at large. The objective of this handbook is to give the reader a good understanding of the practical operation of this system. Working through this guide, the reader will be introduced to all elements of the dispute settlement process, from the initiation of a case through to the implementation of the decision.

When the TRIPS Agreement was concluded in 1994, many saw it as embodying a new gold standard of intellectual property protection that not only reformed the Paris and Berne Conventions but also made further IP agreements unnecessary. Although this optimistic vision has eroded – obligations to protect IP rights can now be found in trade agreements and can be enforced before domestic courts and investor–state tribunals – the Agreement continues to pervade trends and developments in international law, not only in IP but in trade law also. This comprehensive commentary on the past, present, and future of the Agreement focuses on its influence on key topics in IP as well as on enforcement and dispute resolution. The editors have assembled a group of renowned IP law practitioners and academics who, taking each area of IP law, in turn, show the extent to which TRIPS provisions have survived, expanded, or been supplanted by other bodies. Their analysis covers the different IP rights addressed in the TRIPS Agreement (copyrights; trade marks; geographical indications; patents; data protection and enforcement) both in historical perspective and in their development in the last 25 years. An additional three chapters cover: most-favoured-nation obligations in regard of subsequent free trade agreements; how societal interests alter the interpretation of TRIPS obligations; the judicial role in the WTO panels and Appellate Body; minimum standards and reduction of flexibilities in IP policy; relationship of WTO/TRIPS with other international agreements. As intellectual property becomes more pervasive in society than ever before – and as both technology related to the use of IP and the way protected works are consumed have changed beyond recognition over the past 25 years – jurists, academics, and practitioners in IP and trade law will welcome this unique opportunity to test the true scope of national sovereignty in the interpretation of intellectual property rights.

The chapters in this volume provide insightful analysis and commentary on TRIPS and, importantly, the TRIPS Plus world that many countries operate in. . . This is a fine contribution to the growing literature of interdisciplinary analyses of the global IP regime. . . there is enough in here that makes the book worth acquiring and reading. Scholars of development more generally will find this book to be useful both for advancing their own understanding of the global IP regime and for integrating IP into broader development studies courses they teach. Kenneth C. Shadlen, Progress in Development Studies This book considers whether the WTO agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) will become a vehicle for promoting greater international equity and engagement with the world economy or a tool for wealthy nations to extract excessive rents from poorer countries. Can TRIPS garner the necessary degree of legitimacy and public trust to deliver economic development? Can it become a key instrument for promoting international health and development? In response to these questions, the book proposes interpretive possibilities for the TRIPS text along with implementation strategies to avoid the threat of its irrelevancy due, amongst other things, to free trade agreements containing TRIPS-plus terms. The book discusses the impact of TRIPS from various perspectives, including those of developing countries. It will be of interest to informed citizens, members of NGOs and students and academics concerned with the debate about the impact of TRIPS on access to medicines at affordable prices, the protection of traditional knowledge, and the alleged neo-colonial effect of net revenue outflows from developing nations to developed nations for copyright and patent royalties.

This book presents a critical examination of the policy space in international intellectual property law through the unique lens of glocalisation. It further highlights the role that the WTO’s adjudicatory bodies play in preserving this space in international IP law.

Arguing that the translation of scientific and technical learning materials, and the publication of these translations in a timely and affordable manner, is crucially important in promoting access to scientific and technical knowledge in the developing world, this book examines the relationship between copyright law, translation and access to knowledge. Taking Sri Lanka as a case study in comparison with India and Bangladesh, it identifies factors that have contributed to the unfavourable relationship between copyright law and the timely and affordable translation of scientific and technical learning materials, such as colonisation, international copyright law, the trade interests of the developing economies and a lack of expertise and general lack of awareness surrounding copyright law in the developing world. Highlighting the need to reform international copyright law to promote the needs and interests of developing countries such as Sri Lanka, the book points to a possible way forward for developing countries to achieve this and to address the problem of striking a proper and delicate balance in their copyright laws between the protection of translation rights and the ability of people to access translations of copyright protected scientific and technical learning materials.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. This authoritative introduction provides a detailed overview of the complexities of the international intellectual property regime and the ways in which it operates. The authors cover the key international institutions and agreements that regulate and inform intellectual property at an international level such as the TRIPS Agreement, WIPO, WTO, the Paris Convention and the Berne Convention. The book serves as a platform to understand and contextualize policy discussions on topics such as public health, Internet regulation, as well as regional and bilateral trade treaties. Key features include: • Accessible and carefully summarized overview of the field • Comprehensive and up-to-date review of all major international intellectual property institutions and instruments • Introduces current issues within international IP negotiations • Provides tools to analyze the history and possible future development of international IP norms. Students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners of intellectual property will find this book to be an invaluable resource in gaining an understanding of the international rules and context in which both domestic and international IP policy issues should be understood.