Download or read book Scaling Back TRIPS-Plus written by Beatrice Lindstrom and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past ten years, a new trend has developed in which bilateral trade agreements mandate changes to domestic intellectual property laws, resulting in laws that exceed the standards agreed to at the WTO. This Note examines TRIPS-plus preferential trade agreements (PTAs) in the Asia-Pacific region, and argues that these agreements are not an appropriate vehicle for intellectual property lawmaking. Part II briefly introduces the debate on the relationship between intellectual property protection and development and provides background on the present and historical use of trade agreements to raise intellectual property protection around the world. Part III analyzes the TRIPS-plus provisions in agreements signed with Asia-Pacific countries and compares them to the terms found in TRIPS. This analysis is based on a survey of all preferential trade agreements in force in the region as of 2008. It establishes that Asia-Pacific PTAs exceed TRIPS standards in four main areas: accession to international intellectual property agreements, domestic enforcement of intellectual property terms, patenting of pharmaceuticals, and patenting of life forms. This Note demonstrates how TRIPS-plus provisions result in grave economic and social costs to stakeholders who are not represented at the negotiation table. Part IV examines the case of the United States, the most aggressive advocate of TRIPS-plus provisions in bilateral trade negotiations, and argues that it is in the United States' own interest to alter its TRIPS-plus trade strategy.