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TRADE-RELATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (TRIPs)

The agreement covers five broad issues


How basic principles of the trading system and other international intellectual property agreements should be applied How to give adequate protection to intellectual property rights How countries should enforce those rights adequately in their own territories How to settle disputes on intellectual property between members of the WTO Special transitional arrangements during the period when the new system is being introduced.

WTO TRIPS Agreement


It is the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property. It deals with the protection & enforcement of Trade-Related intellectual property rights. It establishes minimum levels of protection that each government has to give to the intellectual property of fellow WTO members

What is Intellectual Property?


Intellectual Property comprises 2 distinct forms: * Literary & Artistic Works * Industrial Property

Literary & Artistic Works


* They are books, paintings, musical compositions, plays, operas, movies, radio/tv programs,
performances, & other artistic works.

How are they Protected?


* Protected by Copyright which provides the individual author or artist the exclusive right to do certain things with an original work, including the right to reproduce, publish, perform the work in public, & to make adaptations of it & benefit thereby.

Industrial Property
Industrial Property describes physical matter that is the product of an idea or concept or that is developed specifically for commercial purposes.

Industrial Property include?


* Patented objects * Trademarks * Industrial Designs * Trade Secrets * Layout-designs of Integrated Circuits * Geographical Indications

Why Protect Intellectual Property?


1) Because one has expend a lot of investment into production of new & innovative products & they have a right, at least for a period of time, to: * have their name associated with their product and/or their authorship associated with it * get paid for their efforts & to recover their investment, & * frustrate the efforts of free riders to make money off their efforts & investment whilst not having any input.
2) Protection stimulates creativity and innovation necessary for productivity, competitiveness, and national economic development

Relevancy of IPR to International Trade & Investment


1) To ensure that IPR enforcement is consistent with free trade principles of effective market access & non-discrimination. 2) Trade will be inhibited (& foreign direct investment frustrated) if the laws of a country do not protect the IPR of its trading partners and/or prospective investors.

Patent
Patent is the right given to inventors to have protected exclusive use for specified period of time (term) for making, using, or selling a new, useful, non-obvious invention. Patents are available for both products & processes. Patent in the law is a property right and hence, can be gifted, inherited, assigned, sold or licensed

TRIPS : Main Provisions on Patents


Section 5, Part II contains the following standards: 1) Patents shall be granted for any inventions, provided they are new, & are capable of industrial application. 2) Patents shall be granted in all fields of technology. 3) Members can exclude from patentability diagnostic, therapeutic, & surgical methods of treatment for humans or animals, as well as plants & animals & biological process for the production thereof.

TRIPS : Main Provisions on Patents


4) Plant varieties shall be protected by patents. 5) Exclusive rights conferred in the case of product and process patents are defined, subject in the case of imports. 6) Inventions shall be disclosed in a manner which is sufficiently clear & complete for a skilled person in the art to carry out the invention. 7) Limited exceptions to the exclusive rights can be defined by national laws (TRIPS Art. 30)

TRIPS : Main Provisions on Patents

8) Conditions for granting other uses without authorization of the patent-holder (compulsory licenses) are set forth Members can determine the grounds to allow such uses. 9) Revocation/forfeiture of a patent is subject to judicial review. 10) The term of protection shall be at least 20 years from the date of application

Copyright
Copyright is the exclusive right to do certain things with an original work, including the right to reproduce, publish, perform the work in public, & to make adaptations of it. Copyright is a right, which is available for creating an original literary or dramatic or musical or artistic work. include Cinematographic films and Computer programs and software

TRIPS: Main Provisions on Copyright


1) Protection of works covered by the Berne Convention excluding moral rights to the expression 2) Protection of computer programs as literary works & of compilations of data. 3) Recognition of rental rights, at least for phonograms, computer programs, & for cinematographic works.

TRIPS: Main Provisions on Copyright


4) Exceptions to exclusive rights must be limited to special cases which do not conflict with normal exploitation of the work & do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the rights-holder. 5) Recognition of the 50 year minimum exclusivity term for works 6) Recognition of rights of performers, producers of phonograms, & broadcasting organizations

Thank you

*Trademark consists of any sign, or combination of signs, capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of another, including personal names, designs, letters, numerals, colours, figurative elements, shape of goods, or their packaging. TMs include service marks, collective marks, & mayinclude certification marks. *Trade Secrets are information deriving its value from not beingknown or available to the public competitors, or other parties who might otherwise gain benefit from its disclosure or use.

*Geographical Indications (sometimes called appellations of origin) are any indication that identifies a product as originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or locality therein, for reason of which a particular quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the product is essentially attributable to geographical origin. *Industrial Design is the shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation of a useful article but not a method or principle of construction

Something Special About TRIPS


TRIPS is the only GATT/WTO Framework agreement that incorporates the provisions of other essentially uneforceable international agreements & makes them enforceable under the GATT/WTO Dispute Settlement process TRIPS goes beyond the Paris & Berne Conventions to provide additional protection by establishing minimum standards for the protection of intellectual property rights.

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