The paper discusses the flexibilization of the sui generis system of supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) under European law recently introduced to allow for the manufacturing, stockpiling and export of covered products. Against this background, it examines the viability under the...

The World Trade Organization (WTO) linked intellectual property protection with trade. The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), however, included a number of public health flexibilities in order to provide latitude to the Member States to...

More than two decades ago, the literature on the Chinese intellectual property system was filled with commentaries on the trade threats exchanged between the United States and China in relation to the inadequate protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the latter. At that...

This paper advances that WHO Member States, having agreed to the objectives of advancing equity and solidarity for future pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, now must operationalize these. The paper offers suggestions for the ongoing WHO processes of: 1) review of recommendations...

Afghanistan is the 36th Least Developed Country (LDC) member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is a land locked country yet deliberately situated at the heart of Silk Road which even today can fill in as the center point of trade and transit of Central Asia and South Asia. It is accepted...

Since the establishment of the Paris and Berne Conventions, the international intellectual property regime has encountered two world wars, struggled with several global pandemics, welcomed many new nations and interacted with a wide variety of technologies and innovative practices. Although this...

"Access to genetic resources" and "fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising [from their] utilization" is the third objective of the 1992 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The expression is included in the full title of the 2010 Nagoya Protocol (NP). Neither agreement...

The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) provides for global minimum standard patents. These patents potentially limit access to the products and processes for the surveillance, tracking, diagnosis and treatment of...

The need for protecting traditional knowledge (TK) has been acknowledged in discussion and negotiations under the umbrella of a number of inter-governmental organizations that deal with biodiversity, the environment, indigenous peoples’ rights, human rights, food and agriculture, among others....