The United States spearheaded the movement for the globalization of patent protection. Over the past years, it has been pushing for the protection of strong intellectual property rights in multilateral and bilateral agreements, treaties and negotiations. The pharmaceutical industry insists that...

This article provides evidence that patent protection can have a positive effect on trade, by analysing the impact of the implementation of intellectual property rights (IPR) in developing countries on the US exports of pharmaceutical products, following intense lobbying efforts from the US...