International Trade, Intellectual Property and Competition Rules : Multiple Cases for Global 'Regulatory Co-Opetition'?

At the global level, the respective legal regimes governing international trade, intellectual property and competition matters have evolved separately or at different speeds and without closer mutual connection and adequate institutional support and coordination. The global economy and some of its most innovative industries, however, are being in a trend of convergence manifest in so-called “convergence products”, i.e. products combining two or more features of formerly separate devices or industries. The convergence of various business branches or industries, however, appears to meet with an increasing divergence of fragmentation of the international legal regimes governing them. As a result, the present chapter advocates the approach of “regulatory co-opetition” as the optimal mix between regulatory competition and regulatory cooperation in the governance of international trade and commerce in the future. Most of all, it understands “regulatory co-opetition” as to not only include the better coordination between governmental and non-governmental actors but notably between the inter-governmental or international organizations in the closely related fields of international trade, intellectual property and competition matters. Based on this understanding, the present chapter features six selected case studies which are used to assess the need for greater coordination between the respective international legal regimes of international trade, intellectual property and competition matters as covered mainly by the WTO, the WIPO, UNCTAD, UNCTIRAL, and the OECD