TRIPS

TRIPS Agreement (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It sets down minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of many forms of intellectual property (IP) as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations.

History

The TRIPS Agreement was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994. Its inclusion was the culmination of a program of intense lobbying by the United States, supported by the European Union, Japan and other developed nations.

Provisions

The TRIPS agreement introduced intellectual property law into the international trading system for the first time and remains the most comprehensive international agreement on intellectual property to date. It covers five broad issues: copyright and related rights, trademarks, geographical indications, industrial designs, patents, and undisclosed information or trade secrets.

Criticism

The TRIPS agreement has been a subject of criticism. One of the main points of criticism is that TRIPS lacks flexibility and is designed more for industrialized countries rather than developing countries that are still trying to establish basic IP legal frameworks.

See also

• World Trade Organization
• Intellectual property
• Uruguay Round
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

TRIPS Resources
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