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Lanye, Zhu --- "Protection of Traditional Knowledge: Protecting Poor Countries’ Intellectual Property?" [2007] ELECD 205; in Torremans, Paul; Shan, Hailing; Erauw, Johan (eds), "Intellectual Property and TRIPS Compliance in China" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007)

Book Title: Intellectual Property and TRIPS Compliance in China

Editor(s): Torremans, Paul; Shan, Hailing; Erauw, Johan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845428754

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: Protection of Traditional Knowledge: Protecting Poor Countries’ Intellectual Property?

Author(s): Lanye, Zhu

Number of pages: 9

Extract:

9. Protection of traditional knowledge:
protecting poor countries' intellectual
property?
Zhu Lanye*

INTRODUCTION
Ever since the Uruguay Round took intellectual property as one of the nego-
tiation topics and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS) was concluded, intellectual property has become a
hot topic to which all countries in the world pay much attention. During the
first few years of operation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), several
disputes regarding intellectual property had been brought to the Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB) each year, many of which were disputes between
developed country members. However, when we entered the twenty-first
century, it seems that intellectual property disputes fell silent; they even
seem to have disappeared.1 If one observes things carefully, one may find
that the issue of intellectual property did not disappear from the WTO. In
the first five years after the establishment of the WTO, the disputes mainly
concerned the traditional categories of intellectual property, such as patent,
copyright and trademark. In 2003, Australia filed a complaint regarding
geographical indications to the WTO, which brought back to the agenda
a similar case filed by the United States five years earlier. Out of this
came the first panel regarding geographical indications since the WTO was



* Professor, East China University of Politics and Law.
1 According to the statistics, 22 cases relating to intellectual property rights had
been brought to the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the WTO from 1 January 1995
to the end of ...