TRIPS Agreement. At a 1998 meeting on the subject of exhaustion of rights and parallel importa- tion, Xx. Xxxxxx Xxxxx, Director of the WTO Intellectual Property Division, who served as Secretary to the Trade Negotiating Group during the Uruguay Round negotiations, presented an oral description of the negotiations. That presentation was summarized in a report on the 1998 meeting: “Xxxxxx Xxxxx (WTO) – Xx. Xxxxx pointed out that the treatment of exhaustion of rights in the TRIPS Agreement was the subject of difficult and intensive negoti- ations during the Uruguay Round. The formula in Article 6, TRIPS Agreement, reflects a compromise between governments favoring an explicit recognition of national discretion in regard to exhaustion practices, including the choice of na- tional or international exhaustion, and governments not wanting to provide such recognition although not seeking to regulate such practices specifically. The penul- timately proposed formula would have indicated that the TRIPS Agreement did not address the issue of exhaustion of rights, while the final formula indicates that for purposes of dispute settlement under the TRIPS Agreement, nothing in that Agreement (subject to articles 3 and 4) will be used to address the issue of 104 Exhaustion of rights exhaustion. Both sides to the negotiations preferred the final formula. Xx. Xxxxx observed that earlier proposals, on the one hand, for a provision restricting the scope for parallel imports in situations where prices had been influenced by gov- ernment measures such as price controls and for a specific rule providing rights against parallel imports in the copyright area and, on the other hand, a provision requiring international exhaustion, at least in the trademark area, were rejected during these negotiations. In a subsequent comment from the floor, Xx. Xxxxx indi- cated that he remains to be convinced that provisions of WTO agreements outside the TRIPS Agreement may not be used to address national laws on the exhaustion of IPRs, where the treatment accorded depends on the geographical origin of the goods rather than the nationality of the persons involved.”237
TRIPS Agreement. While the TRIPs Agreement contains no provisions addressing directly the treatment of investment, it is widely regarded as a strong, rules-based, agreement likely to generate positive investment protection externalities. It significantly enhances the protection (including through coverage under the WTO dispute settlement system) afforded to firms investing in, producing and trading research- and intellectual property-intensive goods and services. 44 TRIMs Agreement, Annex 2 (b). 45 GATS, Part II. 46 GATS, Part III. 47 XXXX, Xxxxx on Article II Exemptions.
TRIPS Agreement. INTRODUCTION Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Hereinafter referred to as “TRIPS”) Agreement came into force on January 1, 1995, establishing the World Trade Organisation as part of the agreement1. To get a comprehensive idea about the goals or objectives of the TRIPS agreement, reference can be made to the Preamble of the Agreement which states the following to be the general goals of the said Agreement: promotion of adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights followed by reduction of impediments to international trade, ensuring that the methods and procedures that exist for the enforcement of intellectual property rights do not end up becoming hurdles to legitimate trade. The objectives of the TRIPS Agreement as laid down in the preamble shall be read with Article 7 of the *ST. XAVIER UNIVERSITY, KOLKATA. 1 Agreement on Trade - Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights [1995] Agreement which states that “The protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights should contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations.” The TRIPS Agreement not lays down the minimum standards for the availability, scope and use of certain forms of intellectual property such as patents, copyright, geographical indications and so on but it also lays down permissible exceptions and limitations in order to balance intellectual property rights with that the interests of public health and economic development. Here, reference can be made to Article 8 of the Agreement which states that “Members may, in formulating or amending their laws and regulations, adopt measures necessary to protect public health and nutrition, and to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance to their socio-economic and technological development, provided that such measures are consistent with the provisions of this Agreement.” It is pertinent to point out here that the TRIPS Agreement only lays down the minimum standard and therefore, member countries are at liberty to provide higher standards for the protection of intellectual property rights in their country. When the countries signed the TRIPS Agreement, it basically means that they are compatible and are looking forward to bringing changes in their nati...
TRIPS Agreement the world exhausts the patent holder's right of importation so that the patented products may be sold in or exported to any other country in the world without violating the patent holder's exclusive right to sell the product. In a regime of regional exhaustion, as for example in the European Union, the first sale of the patented product in any member of the Union exhausts the patent holder's right of importation in the other members of the union and he may not prevent the trading of his patented product in the other member's territories. In a national exhaustion regime, once the patented product is sold in one country by the patent holder, the product may be traded and sold only in that country without any further restriction but the patent holder retains his right of importation in other countries where the product has not yet been made available. Although the TRIPS Agreement does not define the doctrine, it limits it by implication. Footnote 6 to Article 28: 1(a), which prescribes patentee's exclusive rights, implies that only rights… in respect of the use, sale, importation or other distribution of goods can be exhausted. It thus reflects a principle well-established in the laws of the United States: those exclusive rights to make or reproduce protected property, or to publicly perform copyrighted works, are not exhausted by the sale of any particular item embodying the intellectual property. In a legal regime intended to encourage worldwide trade, it would seem incongruous to create an exclusive right of importation by patent holders since the more these products are traded without any restriction, the better is the financial gain for the patent holder. The exclusive right of importation by the patent holder in this situation therefore serves as a restriction on what otherwise would be lawful trade in patented products, which are in any case lawful products, manufactured by the patent holder. Public Health This is why a favorite argument against TRIPS is that it blocks developing country access to medicine. However, it has been pointed out that the TRIPS Agreement provides global patentability, which is part of the solution because it gives private pharmaceutical companies an incentive to develop medicines for diseases in topical and other developing areas. At the 2001 WTO Ministerial conference in Doha, the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health addressed this issue among developing countries in the following ways:
TRIPS Agreement. Sometimes TRIPs Agreement it is referred to as a Bern and Paris plus agreement.
TRIPS Agreement. “Each Member shall accord to the nationals of other Members treatment no less favourable than that it accords to its own nationals with regard to the protection of intellectual property….”).
TRIPS Agreement. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term “intellectual property” refers to all categories of intellectual property that are the subject of Sections 1 through 7 of Part II. As will be evident from the discussion that follows, “categories of intellectual property” is not synonymous with the headings of Sections 1 through 7, Part II of TRIPS. It is useful, nonetheless, to list those headings to provide a reference point for further discussion. “Part II – Standards Concerning the Availability, Scope and Use of Intellectual Property Rights Section1– Copyright and Related Rights Section2– Trademarks Section3– Geographical Indications Section4– Industrial Designs Section5– Patents 99 The Xxxxxx Draft texts of Articles 1.2 and 2, TRIPS Agreement, are almost identical to the finally adopted versions, with the only changes clarifying the section numbers referenced. The Xxxxxx Draft text of Article 1.2, TRIPS Agreement, referred to “Sections 1 to 7 of Part II”, whereas the final TRIPS Agreement in Article 1.2 text refers to “Sections 1 through 7 of Part II” (italics added). The Xxxxxx Draft text of Article 2.1, TRIPS Agreement, referred to “Articles 1–12 and 19 of the Paris Convention (1967), whereas the final TRIPS Agreement text in Article 2.1 refers to “Articles 1 through 12, and Article 19, of the Paris Convention (1967)”. Similarly, Article 9.1 of the Xxxxxx Draft text and the TRIPS Agreement regarding Berne Convention rules are essentially identical, with only clarifying changes involving numbering. Negotiating history regarding references to WIPO Conventions for other forms of intellectual property is addressed in the relevant chapters of this book.
