Trade and Intellectual Property

Article 27.1 of the TRIPS Agreement says: "patents shall be available and patent rights enjoyable without discrimination as to the ... the field of technology."  The law is pretty clear, and doesn't leave much wiggle room. But why is that the rule?  Why shouldn't

From economists Joseph Stiglitz and Arjun Jayadev: The Indian Supreme Court’s refusal to uphold the patent on Gleevec, the blockbuster cancer drug developed by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, is good news for many of those in India suffering from cancer. If other developing countries follow India’s example,

Economist Arvind Subramanian comments on the Indian Supreme Court's Novartis ruling: Critics have suggested that India is a deviant for being the only country where Novartis’ claim has been rejected. Left out is the fact that even in the United States, the Novartis application—which was really for

From yesterday's TRIPS Council meeting: ... the Dominican Republic objected to a draft Australian law requiring cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging without logos or trademarks. The brands would be identified simply in a standard typeface with large graphic health warnings. Australia originally notified the draft and the

From Reuters: A gourmet coffee from the island of Hawaii won an European prize for top quality foods on Saturday as part of Europe's efforts to bolster the global use of prestigious place names like Champagne, Parma or Roquefort. The European Union is in a long-running dispute with

From a recent speech: In the 19th Century, when Ricardo developed what was to become the foundations of international trade theory, countries exported what they produced. In fact, the industrial revolution took root in countries that had coal mines and iron ore. A Portuguese entrepreneur importing a steam engine from

Joel had a post a while back where he wondered if there is "anything in TRIPS that would restrict the ability of a state to set price controls on patented pharmaceutical products."  He doubted there was. I was thinking about this issue recently, and while he is probably

A couple months again, Bryan noted that press reports to the contrary, perhaps the U.S. did not actually do very well in the China - IPRs dispute.  An Economist article from this week suggests that change may come despite the outcome in that case: Chinese firms are also increasingly