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"Preface" [2010] ELECD 556; in Correa, M. Carlos (ed), "Research Handbook on the Interpretation and Enforcement of Intellectual Property under WTO Rules" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Interpretation and Enforcement of Intellectual Property under WTO Rules

Editor(s): Correa, M. Carlos

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849801072

Section Title: Preface

Number of pages: 3

Extract:

Preface
Carlos M. Correa


The Ministerial Conference that launched the GATT Uruguay Round
in 1986 adopted an ambiguous mandate to initiate negotiations on intel-
lectual property rights (IPRs), one of the `new issues' to be addressed by
the Contracting Parties. The proponents of such negotiations advocated
the adoption of a comprehensive instrument that would supplement pre-
existing international conventions on IPRs. They stressed that new inter-
national standards on the matter should not only ensure the availability
but also the means to enforce conferred rights. An innovative feature of
the proposed instrument was, hence, a detailed set of provisions on the
enforcement of IPRs.
The relationship of the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) with the international
conventions it is based on, as well as its relationship with other compo-
nents of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has raised a number of
specific interpretive issues. Panels and the Appellate Body were called on
to provide interpretations of century-old conventions, and to decide on the
extent to which prior GATT jurisprudence (elaborated in relation to the
trade in goods) could be applied to the protection of intangible property.
While the task of the WTO dispute settlement body in dealing with
TRIPS issues has been challenging, Members bound to implement the
TRIPS obligations at the national level faced a considerable burden.
The broad coverage of the Agreement, in terms of both substantive and
enforcement standards, required a complete overhauling of IPRs legisla-
tion in ...