This paper analyzes the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) on industrial designs, and the manner in which the narrow aspects dealt with by the Agreement have been addressed by European Union (EU) legislation. The paper...

This paper critically analyzes the operations and effectiveness of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology (WGTTT). Despite the establishment of the WGTTT in 2001 with a mandate to enhance technology flows to developing countries, the Group has...

With the adoption of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), Argentina had to adapt to the new international rules on patent law. One of the main points of the Agreement is the possibility of establishing different forms of compulsory licenses and...

The proponents of intellectual property (IP) have increasingly utilized injunctions with indiscriminate propensity as a strategic tool for IP enforcement, resulting in adverse socio-economic implications, including the enjoyment of human rights. This trend has eclipsed the flexibilities provided...

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) provided for a number of transition periods allowing countries to engage in a phased implementation of their TRIPS obligations. More specifically, transition periods targeted the patenting of pharmaceutical...

The Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) allows WTO Members to agree to temporarily waive obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). However, the TRIPS Decision adopted by the 12th WTO Ministerial...

The COVID-19 crisis intensified decade-long debates on the interaction between intellectual property rights (IPRs), competition law and access to affordable life-saving treatments and vaccines. Compulsory licensing of patented medicines is a tried-and-tested method to expand access, particularly...

Cambodia is expected to graduate from Least Developed Country status soon, at which time it will be required to make patents available for pharmaceutical products and processes to meet its obligations under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Given its...

The amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) agreed upon in May 2024 are important for strengthening global health emergency preparedness and response. The negotiations resulted in the IHR amendment now recognizing the importance of equity, including equitable access to...

The purpose of this report is to analyze the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the vaccine industry from an international perspective. The objective is to learn from the experience and contribute to the design of better tools for future vaccine development and manufacturing, as we...

This paper analyzes the debate over the international dissemination of data exclusivity as a form of protection for clinical trial data. This is a critical demand for pharmaceutical companies seeking larger market shares and longer periods of monopoly in order to recover investments in research...

While increasing support from WTO members for a proposed waiver from certain obligations under the TRIPS Agreement with regard to health products required for responding to COVID-19 has made a decision on the TRIPS waiver imminent, the waiver will have to be implemented domestically by WTO...

Regulatory Ritualism means acceptance of regulatory goals while losing focus in achieving them. In other words, it means ignoring of goals or objectives of a process or mechanism and focusing too much on regulations, rules, and formalities. Advanced countries and developing countries have been...

This paper provides an analysis of patents covering selected antibodies and vaccines used in the treatment or prevention of COVID-19. The aim of the report is to support national patent offices and interested parties in developing countries with information that can serve as guidance for the...

The recent Covid-19 global health crisis not only brings into sharp relief the current problems afflicting the international intellectual property regime (IIPR) but also calls into question its legitimacy as an interna- tional authority. Against this backdrop, the article aims to launch an...

This research paper explores the significance of geographical indications (GIs) as a mechanism for protecting regional products and promoting cultural heritage in India. It examines the legal framework for GIs, analyses their impact on rural and traditional industries, and evaluates the...

About three decades ago, the TRIPS Agreement arrived with the establishment of the World Trade Organization. This agreement transformed the international intellectual property regime by marrying intellectual property with trade. Despite having its standards drawn mostly from the Global North,...

This article presents a microeconomic model to understand the flow of empty trucks in logistics operations and its impact on cargo flows, transport prices and the number of carriers. Although some empty trips are caused by load imbalances, this study considers the occurrence of empty trucks in...

The TRIPS Agreement obligated India to amend its patent laws to meet the minimum standard of patent protection and patentability. In 2005, India amended its Patent Act to comply with TRIPS, which resulted in the removal of several provisions that facilitated the production and importation of...

This paper provides a first comprehensive quantitative analysis of optimal patent policy in the global economy. We introduce a new framework, which combines trade and growth theory into a tractable tool for quantitative research. Our application delivers three main results. First, the potential...

Timely and equitable access to vaccines and other health technologies is vital in effectively responding to pandemics and treating other communicable diseases. This paper shows how countries might overcome real or purported intellectual property (IP) barriers to regional COVID-19 vaccine...

On the 20th anniversary of the Doha Declaration on the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and Public Health adopted by the World Trade Organization, we realize that its impact is beyond issues of public health stricto sensu. The Doha Declaration...

Technology transfer is deeply embedded in the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). Several provisions address technology transfer, which constitute an essential part of the efforts made by the TRIPS negotiators to strike a balance between the...

Apart from the basic statutory definition in section 65 of the Intellectual Property Act of Sri Lanka, there do not appear to be any detailed statutory guidelines or judicial decisions to provide any framework for the assessment of inventive step in Sri Lanka. The current statutory definition is...

Innumerable inventions implicate public health—including drugs, vaccines, dietary supplements, and sewage treatment plants. Over the past century, the Patent Office and the courts have modulated the ability to obtain or enforce patents for these inventions—whether in response to a public...

Developing nations are challenged to strike a balance between their obligations as members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and their drug pricing strategies. The Brazilian approach to pharmaceutical price negotiations has been strikingly effective. Describing the context of the Brazilian...

Dispute is an integral part of human existence. There is bound to be a disagreement in every human relationship. Whenever there is human interaction, dispute is inevitable. The different means of dispute resolution include litigation, arbitration, mediation, and negotiation. While litigation...

The WTO is the most important international organization that governs world trade. Decisions are made by the member countries. The WTO has 164 members and 24 observer governments (most of which have applied for membership), and members represent over 98% of world trade. The highest-level...

Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is essential to ameliorating the coronavirus pandemic's grave social and economic impact. Despite the rapid development and global increase in the production of vaccines, gross inequities are likely to continue. An effective pandemic response requires...

On 17 June 2022, after nearly one and a half years of intense debate concerning the proposal to waive IP protection in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization adopted a decision on the TRIPS Agreement. It has not waived any intellectual property...

In October 2020, India and South Africa submitted an unprecedented proposal to the WTO, calling for the partial suspension of the TRIPS Agreement to facilitate the "prevention, containment or treatment of COVID-19." Although this proposal immediately received considerable support from other WTO...

The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) provides for global minimum standard patents. These patents potentially limit access to the products and processes for the surveillance, tracking, diagnosis and treatment of...

The original TRIPS waiver proposal made by India and South Africa in October 2020 was based on the need for affordable access to medical products for the prevention, containment of treatment of COVID-19 during the pandemic. That proposal sought to bring into force a waiver of WTO States’ TRIPS...

As multilateral rule-based systems are being challenged with proliferation of protectionist national movements, Africa is moving toward deeper economic integration. The adoption of the Agreement Establishing AfCFTA and negotiations on AfCFTA IP Protocol are evidence of the continent’s...

This paper advances that WHO Member States, having agreed to the objectives of advancing equity and solidarity for future pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, now must operationalize these. The paper offers suggestions for the ongoing WHO processes of: 1) review of recommendations...

Afghanistan is the 36th Least Developed Country (LDC) member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is a land locked country yet deliberately situated at the heart of Silk Road which even today can fill in as the center point of trade and transit of Central Asia and South Asia. It is accepted...

Since the establishment of the Paris and Berne Conventions, the international intellectual property regime has encountered two world wars, struggled with several global pandemics, welcomed many new nations and interacted with a wide variety of technologies and innovative practices. Although this...

The short paper is structured as follows. It first delves into the recent case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union on the scope of GI protection – a scope which has been significantly widened. It then highlights the differences between the GI protection regimes adopted by the...

From the outset, the proposed COVID-19 TRIPS waiver has captured the public attention, with various civil society organisations urging WTO Members to adopt it and criticising those who opposed it. We explore whether and to what extent the proposed waiver can contribute to addressing the critical...

We examine the relationship between patent protection for pharmaceuticals and investment in development of new drugs. Patent protection has increased around the world as a consequence of the TRIPS Agreement, which specifies minimum levels of intellectual property protection for members of the...