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Arup, Christopher --- "TRIPS as Competitive and Cooperative Interpretation" [2008] ELECD 208; in Malbon, Justin; Lawson, Charles (eds), "Interpreting and Implementing the TRIPS Agreement" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008)

Book Title: Interpreting and Implementing the TRIPS Agreement

Editor(s): Malbon, Justin; Lawson, Charles

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847201447

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: TRIPS as Competitive and Cooperative Interpretation

Author(s): Arup, Christopher

Number of pages: 25

Extract:

2. TRIPS as competitive and
cooperative interpretation
Christopher Arup

1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter offers a way of thinking about the field of TRIPS interpret-
ation ­ not so much the record of interpretive practices as the continuing
competitive and cooperative efforts to structure interpretation selectively
and steer a path through the criss-cross of regulation. Interpretation is not
a mechanical task, it depends on who is deciding and the styles and sources
of law for deciding.
This chapter first lays out features of the law making field, characterises
the mix of competitive and cooperative strategies, and asks whether this
process of interpretation will ever be closed off. It then tests these propos-
itions against the experience with interpretation in two places ­ inside the
WTO as dispute settlement and outside within bilateral treaty making.
Throughout, the experience is illustrated by the interpretations given to
pharmaceutical patent protection.


2. THE DYNAMICS OF THE FIELD

Where should we look for insights into international intellectual property
law making? Those from socio-legal studies would recommend that we do
not start by looking for formal hierarchies of legal authority and settled,
static rules for conduct. Globalisation blurs the boundaries between juris-
dictions of law and multiplies the encounters between divergent legalities.
It is better now to track the currents, circuits and communities of interpret-
ation. For this task, organising principles like regulatory networks, global
governance and legal pluralism will provide greater assistance.
As a force for convergence of law, the impact of TRIPS should not be
...