INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DEVELOPMENT: OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN MULTILATERAL, PLURILATERAL, AND BILATERAL FORA

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the South Centre provides a first-quarter 2004 update on international intellectual property (IP) policy. It highlights a strategic shift by developed countries, particularly the United States, away from multilateral forums like the WTO toward bilateral and regional trade agreements to implement 'TRIPS-plus' standards. The document specifically analyzes the risk of 'non-violation complaints' being applied to IP in these bilateral deals, which could erode the flexibilities available to developing countries under the TRIPS Agreement.

• Developed countries are increasingly using bilateral and regional trade agreements to circumvent the flexibilities and unresolved issues of the multilateral system, implementing 'TRIPS-plus' standards that exceed the minimum requirements of the TRIPS Agreement.
• The application of non-violation complaints to intellectual property in bilateral agreements—such as those with Chile, Australia, and the CAFTA—threatens to make WTO discussions irrelevant. These complaints allow a party to challenge measures that are consistent with an agreement but allegedly nullify or impair expected benefits, potentially restricting a country's right to regulate IP in the public interest.
• Bilateral agreements often eliminate procedural protections found in the WTO's Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), such as the requirement for a detailed justification for non-violation complaints and the rule that a respondent is not obligated to withdraw a WTO-consistent measure found to nullify benefits.
• Within the WTO's TRIPS Council, significant divergences remain regarding the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), specifically concerning the disclosure of the origin of biological resources and traditional knowledge to prevent misappropriation.
• At WIPO, negotiations for a Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) and reforms to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) are ongoing, with developing countries increasing their influence despite attempts by some entities to limit the scope of discussions to avoid controversial issues.
• The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) draft includes several 'TRIPS-plus' requirements, including the adoption of regional exhaustion within five years, the extension of patent protection terms, and limits on the use of compulsory licenses.
• Developing countries are forming their own coalitions to protect TRIPS flexibilities; for example, the IBSA Forum (India, Brazil, and South Africa) committed in March 2004 to ensure national legal regimes reflect all TRIPS flexibilities and to reject bilateral agreements containing 'TRIPS-plus' provisions.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2004). INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DEVELOPMENT: OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN MULTILATERAL, PLURILATERAL, AND BILATERAL FORA. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_Update_2Q04.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DEVELOPMENT: OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN MULTILATERAL, PLURILATERAL, AND BILATERAL FORA. 2004. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_Update_2Q04.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DEVELOPMENT: OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN MULTILATERAL, PLURILATERAL, AND BILATERAL FORA |date=2004 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_Update_2Q04.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2004intellectual, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DEVELOPMENT: OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN MULTILATERAL, PLURILATERAL, AND BILATERAL FORA}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2004}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IP_Update_2Q04.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }