The TRIPS Agreement: Drafting History and Analysis provides you with definitive insight into one of the most significant international intellectual property legal agreements. This text is a comprehensive examination of the trade rules and intellectual property concepts that comprise this agreement.
It is uniquely positioned to give you not only a historical view of the drafting history of the TRIPS Agreement but also practical commentary concerning its real-world application today. Some of the changes you will find with this edition include:
- Updated and restructured comments on each article of the agreement.
- A review of the latest reports by the Appellate Body and dispute-settlement panels.
- Updated data on notification under the agreement.
- A new section entitled The Life of TRIPS which covers work undertaken at the WTO on the agreement and ongoing discussions, organised by topic, including those on biotechnology, access to medicine, geographical indications and transfers of technology.
- New perspectives on the future of TRIPS and its interpretation.
- A clearer and easier to navigate format.
This fifth edition comes at a crucial period. It has been substantially updated, restructured and publishes in the aftermath of the landmark Australia tobacco plain packaging dispute and its subsequent appeals – the single most important case concerning the TRIPS Agreement in recent time. Key features include:
- Article-by-article analysis of the TRIPS Agreement – the most significant international agreement on intellectual property to date.
- Interpretation of all 73 articles from a unique authority on TRIPS.
- Offers two distinct perspectives: a historical review of the evolution of the legal framework and commentary on the practical application of the articles in the present day.
- Addresses the role and influence of the TRIPS Agreement with analysis of the most significant cases and panel discussions.
- Chronological look at the history of the TRIPS Agreement to provide a complete background about its origins and explaining how it fits within the wider WTO system.
- Updates to the articles are indicated with strikethroughs alongside the current text, providing a visual evolution of the drafting.
- Summarises all the negotiation stages and the state of international intellectual property in a pre-TRIPS era.
- Explains underlying issues, connections with other provisions of the Agreement and the potential impact of other WTO rules.
- Includes the Annexes – the documents referred to within TRIPS which complete the Agreement.
- Discusses the impact of the Ministerial Conference of 2011 – the highest decision-making body of the WTO.
- Outlines the development of TRIPS between Marrakesh (1995) and Doha (1999) and the issues addressed at the Council meetings.