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...

Expensive prescription drugs lie at the heart of two major public health issues: the global AIDS epidemic; and US patients obtaining less expensive drugs from Canada over the internet. Both situations call for reducing financial barriers to innovative drugs while maintaining incentives to promote innovation. For better or for worse, the WTO TRIPS Agreement on intellectual property (IP) is the g...

of Recommendations Australian commerce and industry:. endorses the cautious and moderate approach adopted by the Australian Government on calls for extensions to the current arrangements for protection of geographical indicators. Any movements in our national stance and obligations should only take place through the WTO TRIPs system, and not bilateral or regional agreements;. shares the views o...

The persistent attempts of the major industrial nations to press ahead with the newly initiated (Doha) round of international trade negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have met with resistance from the developing countries (DCs). The failure of the WTO Ministerial meeting in Cancun and the slow pace of trade negotiations both before and since then are potent pr...

Adelaide to strengthen teaching and research in the field of international economics and closely related disciplines. Its specific objectives are: • to promote individual and group research by scholars within and outside the University of Adelaide • to strengthen undergraduate and postgraduate education in this field • to provide shorter training programs in Australia and elsewhere • to conduct...

Compulsory licensing in music has paved the way for a limited class of new noninteractive services. However, innovation and competition are stifled in the field of interactive or otherwise novel services due to high transaction costs inherent in direct licensing. While the creation of a new compulsory license available to a wider array of services may facilitate growth and diversity in new mark...

Continued on page 18 T issue of the extension to other products of the additional protection provided under the TRIPs Agreement for geographical indications (GIs) for wines and spirits has for some time been one of the most passionately debated topics in the WTO. Its characterization in the Doha Development Agenda Declaration as an ‘outstanding implementation issue’ necessitates a balanced asse...