This paper constructs an intellectual property rights (IPR) index based on the World Trade Organization's Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement for 53 developing countries. TRIPS agreement attempts to standardize the minimum level of IPR protection for all 153...

Despite the emphasis of international IP treaties, such as the TRIPS Agreement, on common minimum IP standards, considerable diversity exists among developing countries regarding the nature and scope of IP standards, approaches to administration and enforcement, and the responsiveness of...

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is the centrepiece of the global system of rules, institutions, and practices governing the ownership and flow of knowledge, technology, and other intellectual assets. During the TRIPS...

The approach taken by developing countries to intellectual property (IP) decision-making varies widely. This variation raises several questions: How do politics at the national level impact the prospects for development-oriented IP reforms? What kind of institutional frameworks would best ensure...

The success of the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Development Agenda will depend upon reforms to the agency's governance. At the 2007 WIPO General Assemblies, several of the recommendations on the Development Agenda adopted by member states specifically alluded to the need for...

The proliferation of investment and intellectual property (IP) agreements recently has been accompanied by an increasing number and expanded scope of investment disputes. The agreements give rise to various issues that particularly affect developing countries. One of the issues that has recently...

The optimal approach to creating and maintaining an equitable balance in the international IPRs system will likely involve a combination of approaches. The goal of the international IPRs system should be to promote innovation, while protecting against the continuation and exacerbation of a stark...

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). It analyzes the intellectual property problem in the context of the GATT...

Despite the looming expiration of the extended transition period under Article 66.1 of the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on 1 July 2013, most least-developed countries (LDCs) have not made significant progress in implementing the TRIPS Agreement. WTO...

This article argues that IP is critical to full-scale technological and economic development for developing countries. Linking IPRs and economic development is not often a popular perspective, but it is clear that developing countries must now operate from the perspective of TRIPs being the...