(INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS) GLOBALLY
An Appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers
If you’re reading this and you’re not in the legal profession, (or not yet), TRIPS means: “Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property”. Business, the creativity that accompanies it ' and the intellectual property that results ' have all, probably in most respects, gone global and so have most issues relating to intellectual property. In the wake of a number of significant IP directives and agreements, such IP issues will inevitably impact on world trade in different ways for the immediate future.
The author, Professor Hiroko Yamane, in her thorough and analytical explorations of such issues, touches on the potential impact created by a regulated IP environment on different areas referred to as the industrialized nations…the developing countries…and the leading emerging economies such as India and China.
Having perused her comments for the most part, we gather that she feels that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy, or policies, for IP regulation worldwide will not necessarily benefit business in all countries or trading environments. And that’s the dilemma!
Nonetheless, with the protection of IPRs (intellectual property rights) having become an established global issue now, the TRIPS Agreement has evolved with a view to outlining and indeed establishing minimum standards for IPR protection for members of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) over a vast range of creative endeavours, from IT to the pharmaceutical and biological sciences.
It’s interesting that the author and -- presumably the impressive global team of IP experts she mentions in her acknowledgements -- take a cautious approach here, warning that ‘the benefits of TRIPS are more questionable in poorer countries where national infrastructure for research and development and social protection are inadequate…and the cost of innovation is high’. Hmm.
IPR protection, she argues, ‘should be supporting domestic policies for innovation and investment.’ At the same time, she advocates the benefits of international co-operation in on IP issues. Bearing such diverse views in mind, Yamane’s extremely erudite book does much to shed light on the various attitudes worldwide to the role of intellectual property rights as incentives for innovation and investment, while also examining the ongoing worldwide debate over IPRs.
A copiously researched and monumentally impressive magnum opus, this book will undoubtedly provide a welcome and authoritative contribution to such a debate, particularly among specialist IP practitioners and academics. Meticulously footnoted and indexed, it contains extensive tables of cases and legislation over a worldwide range of jurisdictions. So, if you’re in any way involved in cross-border matters relating to intellectual property, this book with its global perspective should prove a useful and thought provoking addition to your professional library.