International Regime of Intellectual Property Laws
Today, trade and commerce with each product takes place on a global platform. Intellectual property is no exception. So, before we get to IP and trade, we first need to understand the legal system that governs IP and the protection of that IP. This regime forms the basis of all international or domestic trade in intellectual property. Article 35 of the TRIPS Agreement obliges member states to protect layout-designs of integrated circuits in accordance with the provisions of the IPIC (Treaty on the Intellectual Property of Integrated Circuits), negotiated in 1989 under the auspices of WIPO. These provisions concern, inter alia, definitions of integrated circuits and layout-designs (topography), protection requirements, exclusive rights and restrictions, and exploitation, registration and disclosure. An integrated circuit is a product in its final or intermediate form in which the elements, at least one of which is an active element, and all or part of the compounds in and/or on a material are formed wholly and which is intended to perform an electronic function. A schematic design (topography) is defined as the three-dimensional arrangement of elements, at least one of which is an active element, and some or all of the connections of an integrated circuit or such three-dimensional arrangement prepared for an integrated circuit intended for manufacture. The obligation to protect layout-designs applies to layout-designs that are original in the sense that they are the result of the intellectual efforts of their creators and are not common among layout-designs and IC manufacturers at the time of their creation. Exclusive rights include the right of reproduction and the right to import, sell and otherwise distribute for commercial purposes. Certain limitations to these rights are provided. As in the main existing intellectual property conventions, the basic obligation of each Member State is to grant to other Members the intellectual property protection treatment provided for in the Convention. Article 1.3 defines who these persons are.
Such persons are called nationals, but also include natural or legal persons who have close links with other members without necessarily being nationals. The criteria for determining which persons should benefit from the treatment provided for in the Convention are those provided for in the main existing WIPO intellectual property agreements, which of course apply to all WTO members, whether or not they are parties to those agreements. These are the Paris Convention, the Berne Convention, the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (Rome Convention) and the Treaty on Intellectual Property of Integrated Circuits (IPIC Treaty). In addition, the whole idea of intellectual property rights leads to the creation of monopolies aimed solely at controlling the market and making it anti-competitive and less customer-friendly. So creating universal IP laws can be a global monopoly on very essential and trivial things that may not be in the best interest of the public. The report recalls that “intellectual property” is an umbrella term that encompasses a number of different legal systems that create private property rights in relation to intangible assets. Since copyright protection is different from copyright protection, the Special Rapporteur has proposed several instruments to promote the human rights interests of authors, as well as ways to extend exceptions and limitations to copyright in order to encourage new creativity, increase educational opportunities, preserve space for non-commercial culture and promote inclusion and access to cultural works. It also recommended promoting cultural and scientific participation by encouraging the use of open licenses such as those offered by Creative Commons. After examining the different aspects of trade and intellectual property, it becomes clear that there are still gaps in trade and intellectual property.
There are many ways to change the international regime to ensure greater coherence between intellectual property and international trade. Intellectual property rights are extremely important for the competitiveness of the various post-industrial economies. The TRIPS Agreement resulted for the first time in a global agreement on the overlapping issues between intellectual property and trade. Intellectual property was eventually accepted as an area where internationally recognized rules and disciplines apply. The protection and enforcement of these rights is essential for many global industries, including research-based medicines, whose livelihoods and ability to contribute to the world depend on innovation. Moreover, over the past two decades, there has been a gigantic change in intellectual property law and policy in almost every country. Much of this change that has taken place in recent years is due to a gradual overlap of intellectual property rights with international trade. This growing overlap is already visible in the international trade agreements that entered into force during this period. This is also reflected in the rapid increase in cross-border trade in goods, services and capital. Intellectual property rights are the rights granted to people by the creation of their mind. They usually give the creator an exclusive right to use their creation for a certain period of time. The needs and expectations of a developing country must be different from those of a developed country, so the laws that meet those needs are different.
Some countries such as Brazil, Argentina and India failed to grant full patent protection to pharmaceuticals because the domestic industry depended on it for its domestic industry. [3] It will therefore be very difficult to reconcile different national interests while legislating on intellectual property at the global level. (a) Creation and development of the best IP standards – WIPO`s objective is to bring its Member States to agree on standards that meet the highest possible standards, ideally consistent and consistent. While the fundamental social objectives of intellectual property protection are those described above, it should also be noted that the exclusive rights granted are generally subject to a number of limitations and exceptions aimed at refining the balance between the legitimate interests of right holders and users.