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Dutfield, Graham --- "Knowledge Diplomacy and the New Intellectual Property Fundamentalism" [2008] ELECD 209; 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 3

Section Title: Knowledge Diplomacy and the New Intellectual Property Fundamentalism

Author(s): Dutfield, Graham

Number of pages: 15

Extract:

3. Knowledge diplomacy and the
new intellectual property
fundamentalism
Graham Dutfield

1. INTRODUCTION

In theory, the flexibilities of the World Trade Organization-administered
TRIPS Agreement should provide developing countries with ample
opportunities for creative interpretations of its provisions. Despite this,
developing country freedom to exploit these opportunities is diminishing
rapidly. Dispute settlement jurisprudence is one cause, but this is far less
significant than that the United States, in particular, and the European
Union, have developed successful strategies to hold developing coun-
tries to more rigid and higher standards of IP protection than TRIPS
compliance requires. In some respects these standards of protection are
even higher than those the United States has been willing to accept
domestically.
One of the most effective strategies being employed is that of so-called
free trade agreements (FTAs) containing highly constraining and protec-
tionist `TRIPS plus' IP provisions that seem to be aimed to serve the inter-
ests of developed world corporations. The FTA negotiations and FTAs
themselves seem to be neither wholly free, since the IP provisions in them
are inherently protectionist, nor fair to the weaker negotiating parties.
Unsurprisingly, business and pro-business interest groups have been very
much behind the promotion of TRIPS plus measures. They are popular
with the United States government and the European Commission not only
because they work, but also because the United States and European
economies, along with those of Japan and certain East Asian countries that
tend also to favour TRIPS plus IP protection, are the ...