World Trade Organization Agreement
Intellectual Property Rights and Pharmaceuticals
The World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) covers a wide range of subjects, from copyright and trademarks to integrated circuit designs and trade secrets. Patents for pharmaceuticals and other products are only part of the agreement. TRIPS attempts to strike a balance between the long- term social objective of providing incentives for future inventions and creation, and the short term objective of allowing people to use existing inventions and creations. The balance works in three ways: Invention and creativity in themselves should provide social and technological benefits. Intellectual property protection encourages inventors and creators…
