International Trade Law Commons^™

Creative Industries In Developing Countries And Intellectual Property Protection, Lauren Loew

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

International intellectual property law (hereafter referred to as IP law) has an increasingly important significance for international trade and relations. From the music industry to the drug industry, intellectual property is a lucrative market, and both individuals and corporations have a lot to lose from the infringement of intellectual property rights. For example, music is a $40 billion worldwide industry. According to the Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA), the music industry loses approximately $4.2 billion each year to worldwide piracy. Although these facts bring to light the economic losses of industries and individuals from IP infringement, the global community …

Motion Picture Piracy: Controlling The Seemingly Endless Supply Of Counterfeit Optical Discs In Taiwan, Stephen K. Shiu

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Annually, Hollywood loses roughly $3.5 billion dollars in revenue to optical disc piracy in Taiwan. Optical disc piracy involves the camcording or copying of motion pictures onto laserdiscs, digital versatile discs, or video compact discs. Through the U.S. Trade Representative's satellite enforcement offices in Taiwan and coordination with the Taiwanese legislature and enforcement agencies, the U.S. motion picture companies have been able to influence some change in the frequency and severity of optical disc piracy in Taiwan. This can be mainly attributed to the Motion Picture Association of America's alliance with the U.S. Trade Representative in placing Taiwan on numerous …

Cracks In The Great Wall: Why China's Copyright Law Has Failed To Prevent Piracy Of American Movies Within Its Borders, Jordana Cornish

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This note examines the current state of China's intellectual property rights protection as it relates to movie piracy. Part I examines the different types of film piracy occurring in China and the current severity of the problem for the United States motion picture industry. Part II traces the history of copyright law in China and examines China's commitments under the international copyright treaties it has signed with the United States and other nations through its recent accession to the WTO. Part III discusses why movie piracy in China is still on the rise despite these commitments and highlights why cultural, …

Intellectual Property, Trade & Development: The State Of Play, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article considers, first, available economic, social, and cultural analyses of the impact of intellectual property protection in developing countries. Economics provides a useful set of analytical tools and are directly relevant, in particular since the successfully arranged marriage of IP and trade rules after which it became inevitable that IP rules would be measured using an economic yardstick. The Paper also considers the claim that making proper intellectual property policy is impossible or inherently unreliable because theoretical models are inadequate or valid empirical data unavailable. Against this backdrop, the Article then examines the emergence of the World Trade Organization …

The Expansion Of Intellectual Property Rights By International Agreement: A Case Study Comparing Chile And Australia’S Bilateral Fta Negotiations With The U.S., Ralph G. Fischer

ExpressO

This paper attempts to address the ongoing debate regarding the expansion of intellectual property rights (IPRs) through international negotiations. Commentators have described three theories that purport to explain the growing scope of IPRs in international law, as reflected in international agreements: that these agreements reflect coercion by economically powerful nations; that they are the products of lobbying by multinational corporations; and that they represent autonomous, welfare-enhancing instruments that benefit all parties. The article tests these theories by using a case study comparing free trade agreement negotiations that the United States recently concluded with a less developed country, Chile, and with …

General Exclusion Orders Under Section 337, Gary M. Hnath

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Your company, Widgets Unlimited, imports foreign-made widgets into the United States. One day, you're informed that U.S. Customs & Border Protection (Customs) has detained your goods and is determining whether they infringe a patent owned by The American Widget Corporation, based on an exclusion order issued by the International Trade Commission (ITC) after a recent ITC investigation, titled Certain Widgets with Extra Shiny Surfaces. Since you were never a party to any proceeding at the ITC, and indeed, you never even knew American Widget had patents on its widgets, you conclude that there must be some mistake and wait for …

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

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Spirit Of Trips And The Importation Of Medicines Made Under Compulsory License After The August 2003 Trips Council Agreement, Jessica J. Fayerman

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement has changed prospects for access to necessary medications in the developing world. The use of compulsory licensing for pharmaceutical products embodied in Article 31 of TRIPS has been a contentious issue. Prior to 2003, countries with no manufacturing capacity of their own were not allowed to import medicines made under compulsory license, rendering the protections of Article 31 of little use to them. The 2003 Motta Agreement changed this. This expansion of the compulsory licensing power is both an impractical solution and it dilutes the premises upon which TRIPS was originally …

Trips' Rebound: An Historical Analysis Of How The Trips Agreement Can Ricochet Back Against The United States, Donald P. Harris

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Recently, scholars and commentators around the world have reexamined the role intellectual property rights (IPRs) play in hindering or helping developing countries. These scholars have questioned the doctrine the IPRs help developing countries by promoting economic development, increasing foreign direct investment, stimulating domestic innovation, and improving access to new technologies, and have concluded that imposing "Western-styled" intellectual property regimes (e.g., the U.S. patent regime) on developing countries harms those countries. In particular, such regimes fail to bring any of the purported benefits, while they impose many costs, including preventing people from obtaining life-saving drugs. This Article argues that it is …

Promoting Intellectual Property For Economic Growth, Rita Hayes

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The World Intellectual Property Organization, based in Geneva, is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with international intellectual property matters. The Organization is perhaps best known for international agreements such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty (the PCT), The Madrid Agreement, and the Hague Agreement, which provide international registration and protection for patents, trademarks, and industrial designs, respectively.

The Organization's work in standard setting--through the development of international intellectual property law--covers the range of intellectual property from industrial property to copyright. Many of you are familiar with the WIPO Internet Treaties, two international treaties that came into force …

Some Realism About Indigenism, Michael Henry Davis

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The debate about creating so-called intellectual property (“IP”)--legal monopolies--over indigenous information (a product mostly of Third World countries) is habitually (almost stereotypically) characterized by qualifications that such monopolies really don't fit, and further qualifications that although they don't fit they are the best alternative. But underlying both sets of qualifications is often a confusion about what the real problem is. Because of a frequent failure to analyze closely the problem (and sometimes because of misinformation mixed with an unhealthy dose of romanticism), critics far too often jump to the legal monopoly solution to problems that ironically may be in large …

Anti-Circumvention: Has Technology's Child Turned Against Its Mother?, Terri B. Cohen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Because its function is to protect and support innovation, copyright has been deemed a child of technology. Yet, as copyright laws increase the scope of protection for copyrighted material, one may wonder when such protection will begin to stymie, rather than encourage, emerging technology. The global trend toward internationalizing copyright protection has resulted in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty, which was intended, in part, to bring international copyright protection into the digital age. The treaty, however, extends traditional copyright protections by including a requirement that member nations implement anti-circumvention provisions into their laws.

Great debate has emerged …

Trips And Ipr : The Heart Of The Matter, T N Srinivasan

IIMB Management Review

T N Srinivasan, currently Samuel C Park Jr Professor of Economics, Yale University and special advisor to the World Bank, raised the three issues which he feels are at the heart of the debate over TRIPS and IPR — Are patents necessary for innovation? What is the best way to provide life saving drugs to the poor at a price they can afford? What is the best way to minimise the cost of production of these drugs? There is the fundamental assumption in the utilitarian view that most IPR regimes subscribe to, that by granting a patent you are going …

The Internationalization Of Intellectual Property: New Challenges From The Very Old And The Very New, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Intellectual property concepts embodied in international treaties and national laws date back to the eighteenth century. Many fundamental concepts (originality in copyright law; confusion in trademark law; novelty or inventiveness in patent law) vary from one country's national legislation to another. Yet, many critics of the intellectual property system recognize that solutions to the problems, ranging from database protection to the Internet, should ideally be the same worldwide. In today's globalized economy, it makes sense to adopt rules to protect that take account of the laws and practices of other nations and of the work of international organizations. Protecting only …

Trademark Exhaustion In The European Union: Community-Wide Or International?The Saga Continues, Irene Calboli

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This Article analyzes the principle of "trademark exhaustion" or "first-sale rule" in the European Union (EU), with particular attention to the language and different interpretations of Article 7(1) of the First Council Directive 89 104 EEC of December 21, 1988. Traditionally, most jurisdictions define the extent of trademark exhaustion as either "national" or "international" exhaustion, depending on whether the rights granted by a mark are considered exhausted only in the domestic territory or also in foreign jurisdictions. Because of its nature as a regional integration of sovereign countries, the EU has historically favored a compromising approach toward the issue, and …

Legitimacy, Globally: The Incoherence Of Free Trade Practice, Global Economics And Their Governing Principles Of Political Economy, Michael Henry Davis, Dana Neacsu

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In this article, we observe the legalized character of the phenomenon popularly called “globalization.” We first examine what it means to be a legalized phenomenon and observe that an important part of legalization is legitimation. In domestic legal regimes, legitimation is accomplished through the Rule of Law, which makes certain claims about the nature of the society of which the legal regime is a part. Simply stated, the Rule of Law claims that a legal system is legitimate if its rules are definite and predictable and are applied in a general, impartial, and non-retroactive manner. In the international trading system …

Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights And The Impact Of Trips, Sowmiya R.K. Sikal

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis focuses on the importance of intellectual property rights and its protection in the international arena. Coming from a developing country - India, I have always been fascinated with the area of international intellectual property rights protection because of its severe ramification on the economy and the social structure of developing countries. The impact of heightened protection of intellectual property rights has been a controversial issue between developed and developing countries for many years. In this paper, I have examined intellectual property rights, need for its protection, conventions, treaties and agreements present for the protection of intellectual property including …

Conflicts Between U.S. Law And International Treaties Concerning Geographical Indications, Christine Farley

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

It should not be surprising that the United States is not a major proponent of the protection of geographical indications. Countries that stand to benefit the most from this protection are those that have a long history of traditional industries, such as many European countries. These historical differences may help explain the stance that the United States has taken with regard to the protection of geographical indications, as compared to its stance towards other intellectual property rights negotiated in TRIPs Agreement. But the inability of the U.S. to benefit to the same extent as European countries, because of its apparent …

Trips Boomerang--Obligations For Domestic Reform, Harold C. Wegner

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Today, one of the biggest obstacles facing inventors is the problem of patent harmonization. Inventors, who spend their time, money, and resources to develop new technology, are faced with the problem of ensuring that their new development receives patent protection not only in their home countries, but also worldwide. This problem is complicated by the fact that the United States maintains a different patent filing process than most other developed nations. Efforts of the international community to harmonize these different approaches, however, have been only partially successful.

In this Article, Professor Wegner examines the latest attempt by the international community …

Trade, Competition, And Intellectual Property--Trips And Its Antitrust Counterparts, Eleanor M. Fox

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines the interface between TRIPS' protection of intellectual property rights and antitrust law, and the extent to which TRIPS invites a counterpart agreement that would internationalize intellectual property antitrust rules.

Professor Fox argues that TRIPS does not call for internationalizing antitrust law, and that even developing countries, which might find a greater need for antitrust protection against abuse of dominance after TRIPS, might be better served by developing and enforcing a national antitrust law of their own.

She argues that TRIPS does, however, contemplate some limits to antitrust, lest antitrust enforcement impair protections guaranteed by TRIPS. Professor Fox …

Compliance With Trips: The Emerging World View, Adrian Otten, Hannu Wager

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article provides an overview of the substantive provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The authors begin by explaining how the TRIPS Agreement signals a new emphasis on protecting intellectual property in the international trading system and the World Trade Organization. They then discuss the Agreement's obligations on substantive protection, as well as its enforcement and dispute resolution mechanisms. Finally, the authors address the international plans for the Agreement's implementation and administration. Otten and Wager conclude that, while it does not solve all the problems related to international intellectual property matters, the TRIPS Agreement …

Biodiversity Prospecting: Fulfilling The Mandate Of The Biodiversity Convention, Edgar J. Asebey, Jill D. Kempenaa

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

After a brief overview of biodiversity prospecting, the authors review the historical context of biodiversity prospecting, including the common heritage doctrine, international patent law, and the Biodiversity Convention. The authors analyze the four major United States prospecting initiatives to date and identify their strengths and shortcomings. The authors then investigate two possible alternatives: (1) biological resource cartelization and (2) the development of a new type of biodiversity enterprise. The authors advocate the latter as a means of complying with the Biodiversity Convention.

Trade, Intellectual Property, And The Development Of Central And Eastern Europe: Filling The Gatt Gap, Anne D. Waters

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A major obstacle encountered by the formerly Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe as they convert to market economies is the lack of necessary capital. To raise that capital, these states are largely dependent on foreign investors. Inadequate protection of intellectual property in the formerly Communist states, however, may deter foreign investment. This Note examines Central and Eastern Europe's need for capital and the effect that the quality of intellectual property protection may have on its ability to obtain capital. The Author concludes that, in order for the new economies to survive, not only must the states of Central …

Case Comment, John C. Herman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Section 337 of the recently amended Tariff Act of 1930 permits United States patent owners to bar from importation goods that infringe upon their patents. In Amgen, Inc. v. United States International Trade Commission, the Federal Circuit refused to grant relief to the patent owner because it had no claim on either the final product imported or the process to create the product. The alleged infringer, however, had to use the patented product to create the final product, which, if done in the United States, would infringe the patent.

This Comment argues for an extension of section 337 to cover …

Combatting Piracy Of Intellectual Property In International Markets: A Proposed Modification Of The Special 301 Action, Theodore H. Davis

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Increasing losses attributable to the piracy of United States intellectual property rights in international trade have forced domestic policymakers to reexamine how best to protect these rights. This Article examines the United States most recent bilateral strategy to protect intellectual property, the Special 301 action, which creates a virtually mandatory United States Trade Representative (USTR) investigation into states that have inadequate intellectual property laws or that deny fair market access to United States citizens who rely on intellectual property protection. Part One of this Article discusses the historic interaction between United States intellectual property protection and trade measures. Part Two …

Protecting First World Assets In The Third World: Intellectual Property Negotiations In The Gatt Multilateral Framework, Frederick M. Abbott

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article addresses industrialized countries' growing concerns over technology transfer and their efforts to obtain protection of intellectual property rights under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Mr. Abbott analyzes the intellectual property problem in the context of the GATT framework and the weakness of current intellectual property protection. Developing countries do not accept the United States contention either that intellectual property is covered implicitly by the GATT or that the current lack of protection reflects a fundamental flaw in the General Agreement. Mr. Abbott focuses on this disagreement in laying out the framework for possible solutions, which …

Uruguay Round Trips: A Bibliographic Essay, William M. Walker

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations began with a special ministerial meeting of the Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, on September 20, 1986. "Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Including Trade in Counterfeit Goods" (TRIPs) is a designated subject for negotiation in the Uruguay Round. The inclusion of intellectual property rights in the Uruguay Round is the culmination of a process that began during the Tokyo Round. While the Tokyo Round was in progress, the United States and the European Community reached a tentative accord on various …

Intellectual Property And International Trade: Merger Or Marriage Of Convenience?, R. Michael Gadbaw

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines the interaction between trade and intellectual property rights policies through certain key developments in United States law, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). While this brief review is not intended to provide a definitive analysis, it will offer worthwhile insights into the prospects for, and implications of, such a merger. For this purpose, this Article considers the efforts in GATT to negotiate a code on intellectual property rights and the parallel efforts in WIPO to negotiate a treaty for the protection of semiconductor designs. While the GATT talks …

International Trade And Intellectual Property: Promise, Risks, And Reality, Congressman Robert W. Kastenmeier, David Beier

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The trading nations of the world are set to make decisions that will determine the future pattern of international trade. Negotiations are currently underway to bring trade in certain agricultural products, services, and goods and services protected as intellectual property" within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This Article will outline how the consideration of intellectual property came to be included in this round of talks. It will assess the potential benefits and risks of including intellectual property, forecast the probable outcome, and, finally, suggest ways to improve the chances for inclusion of intellectual property into the GATT. …

The Economics Of Intellectual Property Rights And The Gatt: A View From The South, Carlos A.P. Braga

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article explores the attitude of less developed countries (LDCs) with respect to the debate on TRIPs at the Uruguay Round. Part II addresses the evolution of the debate at the GATT level. Part III presents the economics of intellectual property rights protection from the point of view of LDCs. Finally, Part IV summarizes the main conclusions and recommendations of the Article.