Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights: A Commentary on the TRIPS Agreement

by Carlos Maria Correa

Overview

The TRIPS Agreement is the most comprehensive and influential international treaty on intellectual property rights. It brings intellectual property rules into the framework of the World Trade Organization, obliging all WTO Member States to meet minimum standards of intellectual property protection and enforcement. This has required massive changes in some national laws, particularly in developing countries. This volume provides a detailed legal analysis of the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, as well as elements to consider their economic implications in different legal and socio-economic contexts.

This book provides an in depth analysis of the principles and of the substantive and enforcement provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, the most influential international treaty on intellectual property currently in force. It discusses the legal context in which the Agreement was negotiated, the objectives of their proponents and the nature of the obligations it created for the members of the World Trade Organization. In particular, it examines the minimum standards that must be implemented with regard to patents, trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications, copyright and related rights, integrated circuits, trade-secrets and test data for pharmaceutical and agrochemical products.

Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights: A Commentary on the TRIPS Agreement elaborates on the interpretation of provisions contained in said Agreement, in the light of the customary principles for the interpretation of international law. The analysis -which is supported by a review of the relevant GATT and WTO jurisprudence- identifies the policy space left to such members to implement their obligations in accordance with their own legal systems and public policy objectives, including in respect of complex issues such as patentability criteria, compulsory licenses, exceptions and limitations to copyright, border measures, injunctive relief and the protection of test data under the discipline of unfair competition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198707219
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/23/2020
Series:	Oxford Commentaries on International Law
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	592
Product dimensions:	9.80(w) x 6.70(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Carlos Maria Correa, Executive Director, The South Centre, Geneva

Prof. Carlos Maria Correa is the Executive Director of the South Centre, an intergovernmental organization established in Geneva. He has been Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies on Industrial Property and Economics (University of Buenos Aires), a visiting professor in post-graduate courses of several universities and consultant to UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNDP, WHO, FAO, IDB, INTAL, World Bank, SELA, ECLA, and other regional and international organizations.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations     xv
Table of Cases     xvii
Table of International Instruments and National Laws     xx
Preamble     1
The purpose of the TRIPS Agreement     1
Annex     19
Nature and Scope of Obligations     22
Coverage of the Agreement     22
Utility models or petty patents     36
Breeders' rights     36
Databases     38
Unfair competition     38
Domain names     39
Intellectual property conventions     44
National treatment     51
Most-favoured nation     65
Multilateral agreements on acquisition or maintenance of protection     72
Annex     73
International Exhaustion of Rights     78
Annex     89
Objectives and Principles     91
The interpretive value of Article 7     91
IPRs and innovation     95
Transfer and dissemination of technology     97
Social and economic welfare     99
Balance of rights and obligations     101
Principles     103
Abuse of IPRs     110
Practices which unreasonably restraintrade     111
Practices which adversely affect the international transfer of technology     112
Annex     113
Copyright and Related Rights     115
Relation to the Berne Convention     116
Computer programs and compilation of data     123
Rental rights     128
Term of protection     131
Limitations and exceptions     134
The three-step test     146
Related rights     155
Annex     168
Trademarks     174
Subject matter     175
Requirement of use for application and registration     180
Rights conferred     184
Exceptions     193
Term of protection     196
Use as a condition to maintain registration     196
Other requirements     199
Licensing and assignment     201
Annex     203
Geographical Indications     209
Terminology     211
Prior conventions     213
Paris Convention     214
Madrid Agreement     215
Lisbon Agreement     215
Protection of geographical indications under TRIPS     217
Additional protection for geographical indications for wines and spirits under TRIPS     232
International negotiations: exceptions     240
Annex     252
Industrial Designs     257
International conventions and TRIPS     259
Requirements for protection     260
Protection     265
Annex     269
Patents     271
Patentable subject matter     271
Non-discrimination     281
Exclusions to patentability     287
Rights conferred     294
Conditions on patent applicants     300
Exceptions to rights conferred     302
Experimental use     304
Bolar exception     304
Compulsory licenses     311
Other use without authorization of the right-holder     311
Environmental protection     319
Conditions for the granting of compulsory licences     320
Lack of manufacturing capacity in pharmaceuticals     324
For what purposes can the system be used?     328
Notification of intention to use the system     329
Notification about needed products, compulsory licence     330
Establishing lack of, or insufficient, manufacturing capacity      331
Confirming the intention to grant a compulsory licence     332
Compulsory license in the exporting country     333
Amount necessary to meet needs     334
Identification of product     334
Labelling and marks     334
Packaging, colouring, and shaping     335
Notification by the supplier     336
Notification by the exporting country     337
Anti-diversion measures     338
Suspension of the system     339
Operation of the system     339
Revocation and forfeiture     342
Term of protection     343
Reversal of the burden of proof     344
Negotiating history     346
Annex to the TRIPS Agreement     348
Appendix to the annex to the TRIPS agreement     350
Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits     352
Relation to the IPIC Treaty     352
Scope of the protection     357
Acts not requiring the authorization of the right-holder     361
Term of protection     362
Annex     363
Undisclosed Information     366
Protection under unfair competition     366
Conditions for protection      369
Test data of pharmaceutical and agrochemical products     374
Data necessary for marketing approval     377
Undisclosed data     377
New chemical entities     378
Considerable effort (investment)     379
Non-disclosure obligation     380
Acts of unfair commercial use     381
Unfair     381
Commercial     383
Use     384
Relying on data     385
Means of protection against unfair commercial use     387
Annex     392
Control of Restrictive Practices in Contractual Licences     395
Anti-competitive practices in contractual licences     398
Consultation system     404
Annex     406
Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights     409
General obligations     410
Civil and administrative procedures and remedies     417
Fair and equitable procedures     417
Evidence     420
Injunctions     422
Damages     426
Other remedies     427
Right of information     429
Indemnification of the defendant     430
Administrative procedures      432
Provisional measures     433
Special requirements related to border measures [12]     438
Suspension of release by customs authorities     438
Application     441
Security or equivalent assurance     442
Notice of suspension     444
Duration of suspension     444
Indemnification of the importer and of the owner of the goods     445
Right of inspection and information     446
Ex officio action     446
Remedies     447
De minimis imports     448
Criminal procedures     448
Annex     451
Acquisition and Maintenance of Intellectual Property Rights, Dispute Prevention and Settlement, Transitional and Institutional Arrangements, and Final Provisions     467
Acquisition and maintenance of IPRs     467
Dispute prevention and settlement     472
Dispute settlement     479
Transitional arrangements     491
Transitional period for least-developed countries     495
Technology transfer to LDCs     500
Institutional arrangements and final provisions     504
Council for TRIPS     504
International cooperation      506
Protection of existing subject matter     506
Pharmaceutical and agrochemical products     514
Review and amendment     517
Reservations     519
Security exceptions     519
Annex     520
Appendix 1     533
Appendix 2     563
Index     565

Editorial Reviews

"Ultimately, does the book stand out among other commentaries of the TRIPS Agreement, such as the series by Nuno Pires de Carvalho or Daniel Gervais' book, now in its fifth edition? In my view, it clearly does: it is more compact than most of the other works, yet packs the same punch — if not more — because of Correa's authoritative and succinct writing style. Thus, Correa finds balance not just in his interpretation of the TRIPS Agreement, but also in how he expresses it: accessible, clear, and to-the-point. As such, I expect that it will be a valuable reference for practitioners and students." — Léon Dijkman, European Intellectual Property Review

From the Publisher