International Intellectual Property

International Intellectual Property: A Handbook of Contemporary Research provides researchers and practitioners of international intellectual property law with the necessary tools to understand the latest debates in this incredibly dynamic and complex

Concentrating on international intellectual property law, this volume is a collection of works by current authors in the field. Their work is supplemented by numerous essays and notes prepared by the editors. The controlling provisions of the major treaties in the field are included in a comprehensive appendix.

As a ‘Specialized Agency’ of the UN, the World Intellectual Property Organization aims to be the premier global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information and cooperation. Whilst many individuals, firms, institutions and governments know and use WIPO services, the ways in which it functions, how priorities are set and decisions made are less well-understood. Indeed, a diversity of WIPO’s stakeholders and member governments express frustration that WIPO’s governance is not only complex but at times opaque. This practical guide offers a unique insight into how WIPO is governed, described in clear, readily accessible terms for policymakers, scholars and stakeholders. The guide reviews the origins of WIPO and sets out its current functions and activities, presenting a framework for analysing WIPO’s complex governance system. The core of the text will improve the reader’s understanding of WIPO in five thematic areas: • Legal foundations, mandate and purpose • Decision-making structures, processes and practices • Financial arrangements (such as income sources and the budget process) • Mechanisms for accountability and control of the Secretariat (such as policies on oversight, audit and evaluation) • Transparency and external relations. The text is accompanied by a number of valuable appendices, including key documents that have, to date, not been readily available to the public. Written by a leading WIPO commentator, The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): A Reference Guide is the first comprehensive reference book to illuminate the nuts and bolts of WIPO governance. It will prove an invaluable and handy resource for those who interact with WIPO on any level, as well as to researchers seeking an introduction to how the organisation works.

Identifying the relevant multilateral institutions and multinational organizations involved in particular aspects of international finance and trade often proves to be difficult. This book makes that process easy while providing valuable descriptions of and insights into those institutions and organizations. Chapter topics examine multilateral institutions and organizations: • generally and their major umbrella organization—the United Nations; • concerned with national currencies, national solvency, financial institutions and securities exchange, and international financial transactions and securities; • promoting economic development; • regulating international trade; • dealing with international product and performance standards, standardized legal commercial rules, and common usages and documents through international conventions and treaties, the harmonization of national commercial laws, and accepted sectoral practices; • protecting international intellectual property rights; • managing international environmental, commodities, and natural resources matters; • resolving international disputes; and • involved with other international finance and trade matters. No other book now in print covers this topic. None is likely to ever do so with such thoroughness and clarity. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

Across the world, developing countries are attempting to balance the international standards of intellectual property concerning pharmaceutical patents against the urgent need for accessible and affordable medicines. In this timely and necessary book, Monirul Azam examines the attempts of several developing countries to walk this fine line. He evaluates the experiences of Brazil, China, India, and South Africa for lessons to guide Bangladesh and developing nations everywhere. Azam's legal expertise, concern for public welfare, and compelling grasp of principal case studies make Intellectual Property and Public Health in the Developing World a definitive work. The developing world is striving to meet the requirements of the World Trade Organization's TRIPS Agreement on intellectual property. This book sets out with lucidity and insight the background of the TRIPS Agreement and its implications for pharmaceutical patents, the consequences for developing countries, and the efforts of certain representative nations to comply with international stipulations while still maintaining local industry and public health. Azam then brings the weight of this research to bear on the particular case of Bangladesh, offering a number of specific policy recommendations for the Bangladeshi government—and for governments the world over. Intellectual Property and Public Health in the Developing World is a must-read for public policy-makers, academics and students, non-governmental organizations, and readers everywhere who are interested in making sure that developing nations meet the health care needs of their people.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. This authoritative introduction provides a detailed overview of the complexities of the international intellectual property regime and the ways in which it operates. The authors cover the key international institutions and agreements that regulate and inform intellectual property at an international level such as the TRIPS Agreement, WIPO, WTO, the Paris Convention and the Berne Convention. The book serves as a platform to understand and contextualize policy discussions on topics such as public health, Internet regulation, as well as regional and bilateral trade treaties. Key features include: • Accessible and carefully summarized overview of the field • Comprehensive and up-to-date review of all major international intellectual property institutions and instruments • Introduces current issues within international IP negotiations • Provides tools to analyze the history and possible future development of international IP norms. Students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners of intellectual property will find this book to be an invaluable resource in gaining an understanding of the international rules and context in which both domestic and international IP policy issues should be understood.

The global transmission of infectious diseases has fuelled the need for a more developed legal framework in international public health to provide prompt and specific guidance during a large-scale emergency. This book develops a means for States to take advantage of the flexibilities of compulsory licensing in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which promotes access to medicines in a public health emergency. It presents the precautionary approach (PA) and the structure of risk analysis as a means to build a workable reading of TRIPS and to help States embody the flexibilities of intellectual property (IP). The work investigates the complementary roles of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in order to promote the harmonisation of the precautionary approach in relation to the patenting of crucial pharmaceutical products. By bringing together international trade law and intellectual property law Phoebe Li demonstrates how through the use of risk analysis and the precautionary approach, States can still comply with their legal obligations in international law, while exercising their sovereignty right in issuing a compulsory licence of a drug patent in an uncertain public health emergency. This book will be of great interest to students and academics of medical and healthcare law, intellectual property law, international trade law, and human rights law.

'This book is a substantial contribution to the discussion on trade-related intellectual property rights. It provides a clear, step-by-step, in-depth analysis of the TRIPS agreement, particularly as it relates to the European pharmaceutical industry. Politics, law and economics are judiciously blended. Meir Pugatch's work should be read not just by academic experts and students in the field, but also by trade policy and IPR practitioners interested in an accessible, policy-relevant treatment of the issues at hand.' - Razeen Sally, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK This book investigates the realm of intellectual property rights (IPRs) within the context of international political economy. In particular, it examines the extent to which powerful interest groups, such as pharmaceutical multinational companies, influence the political dynamism underlying the field of IPRs. Meir Perez Pugatch argues that a pure economic approach does not provide a sufficient or satisfactory explanation for the creation of intellectual property rights, most notably patents. The author instead suggests that a dynamic approach, based on the international political economy of interest groups and systemic outcomes, provides a better starting point for explaining how the international intellectual property agenda is determined.