Law Commons^™

Currents And Crosscurrents In The International Intellectual Property Regime, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Since the establishment of the TRIPs Agreement, intellectual property protection has been expanding rapidly, and many less developed countries have become dissatisfied with the international intellectual property regime. From bilateral free trade agreements to the increasing use of technological protection measures, many commentators fear that the recent "one-way ratchet" will roll back the substantive and strategic gains made by less developed countries during the negotiation of the TRIPS Agreement. Interestingly, intellectual property rightsholders feel equally threatened by the recent developments, in particular the development of the Doha Declaration, the World Summit on the Information Society, the WIPO Development Agenda, and …

The Origins Of Cctld Policymaking, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Extract:

A long time ago in a galaxy not so far away, there was a decentralized global network of computers. These computers shared information with each other regardless of how far apart they were and whether there was any direct line of communication between them. In the very beginning, this network was used exclusively by government and military agencies, educational and research institutions, government contractors, scientists, and technology specialists. Instead of the domain names we use today, such as “www. amazon.com,” users typed in numeric addresses, such as “123.45.67.89,” and, later, host names to send information to other computers.

This …

Intellectual Property At A Crossroads: Why History Matters, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Intellectual property is at a crossroads today. As the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights noted in its final report, “[o]ver the last twenty years or so there has been an unprecedented increase in the level, scope, territorial extent and role of IP right protection.” From the rapid privatization and commodification of information to the creation of property rights in bioengineered microorganisms and lifeforms, recent developments in the intellectual property field have sparked major controversies, calling into questions our values, worldviews, and the way society protects and incentivizes human creations and innovations. To grapple with these difficult questions, courts and commentators …

The Jekyll And Hyde Story Of International Trade: The Supreme Court In Phrma V. Walsh And The Trips Agreement, Srividhya Ragavan

Faculty Scholarship

The paper analyses the international impact of the approval by the United States Supreme Court to use indirect price control mechanisms to tackle public health and Medicaid issues. It traces similarities in policies implemented by the United States and those it opposed within developing nations. For example, the recent use by the developed nations of compulsory licensing and price control mechanisms, which they opposed as violating TRIPS when used by developing nations, underlines a poverty penalty suffered by developing nation signatories of TRIPS. In effect, TRIPS exempts developed nations from fulfilling obligations developing nations were forced to fulfill and thus …

The Escalating Copyright Wars, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Piracy is one of the biggest threats confronting the entertainment industry today. Every year, the industry is estimated to lose billions of dollars in revenue and faces the potential loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. To protect itself against Internet pirates, the entertainment industry has launched the latest copyright war. So far, the industry has been winning. Among its trophies are the enactment of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Vivendi Universal's defeat and purchase of MP3.com, the movie studios' victory in the DeCSS litigation, the bankruptcy and subsequent sale of Napster and its recent relaunch as a legitimate subscription-based …

A "Patent" Restriction On Research & Development: Infringers Or Innovators?, Srividhya Ragavan

Faculty Scholarship

The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("TRIPS") requires developing nations to harmonize patent regimes as a means to achieve stronger industrial growth. Countries, however, need to adopt effective patent procedures in order to successfully institute a patent regime. In spite of this, international treaties like TRIPS do not properly assist developing nations in establishing appropriate procedural mechanisms capable of complimenting a sophisticated patent regime. Consequently, developing nations may embrace ineffective patent procedures that can eventually further limit industrial growth despite establishing a TRIPS compliant patent regime. The paper uses India as a case study to demonstrate the detriments …