Abstract: The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) will usher in a markedly stronger global system of defining and protecting intellectual property rights (IPRs). This paper analyses TRIPS as a global regulatory device. It first discusses the concept of intellectual property and the need for its protection and regulation. It presents evidence on the wide variation...

There are acute disparities in pharmaceutical access between developing and industrialized countries. Developing countries make up approximately 80% of the world's population but only represent approximately 20% of global pharmaceutical consumption. Among the many barriers to drug access are the potential consequences of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreemen...

When the Uruguay Rounds concluded in 1994, many countries signed on to the trade agreements creating the World Trade Organization (WTO) in hopes of benefiting from a system of trade rules “dedicated to open, fair and undistorted competition” (1). WTO members also undertook to implement the TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. Developing countries, major develo...

After the Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) came into operation in 1995 developing countries have found themselves in a process of continual negotiation over intellectual property rights and access to medicines. These negotiations have taken place in the World Trade Organization and in the context of free trade agreements. The paper suggests that the...

OBJECTIVE This study aims to propose a framework for measuring the degree of public health-sensitivity of patent legislation reformed after the World Trade Organization's TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement entered into force. METHODS The methodology for establishing and testing the proposed framework involved three main steps:(1) a literature review on TRI...

We study the effects of reforms in the legal scope of patent rights (PRs) on the international pattern of sectoral exports, before and after implementation of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement at the World Trade Organization (WTO), in a generalized factor-proportions framework. We find that, conditional on factor endowments and intensities, a country wi...

The Pharmaceutical Industry witnessed a change after the formation of World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 when India, being a signatory member of WTO, adopted Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. Indian pharmaceutical industry, being a highly fragmented one and dominated mostly by a large number of smaller enterprises, was also apprehensive when TRIPS was ...

The chapter deals with ethical aspects of patent law and how the global patent regime helps or hinders the development of a developing country such as Thailand. More specifically, it discusses Article 27.3 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which states that countries may exclude methods of medical treatment, plants ...

The chapter deals with ethical aspects of patent law and how the global patent regime helps or hinders the development of a developing country such as Thailand. More specifically, it discusses Article 27.3 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which states that countries may exclude methods of medical treatment, plants ...