INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND THE WTO

Abstract

Intellectual property broadly refers to creations which result from intellectual
activity in the industrial, scientific, literary, and artistic fields. Over the course of history,
different legal instruments for protecting intellectual property have emerged. These
instruments differ in their subject matter, extent of protection, and field of application,
reflecting society’s objective to balance the interests of creators and consumers for
different types of intellectual works.
This short paper seeks to provide an introduction to the main instruments used to
protect intellectual property , the key economic trade-offs of stronger IPRs , the basic
provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. The paper draws heavily from Primo Braga, Fink,
and Sepulveda (2000), Fink and Primo Braga (2001), and Fink (2003). A more extensive
treatment of many issues raised here can be found in these papers, as well as in Maskus
(2000) and World Bank (2001).