Analysis of TRIPS Agreement and the justification of international IP rights protection in the WTO's multilateral trading system,with particular reference to pharmaceutical patents

The entry of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement has seen the developing countries and the least developed countries (LDCs) suffer from the excessive burden of obligations imposed under the Agreement to embrace and implement a higher standard of intellectual property (IP) protection. One of the areas where the impact of the measures is most felt is on accessibility to affordable medicines for frontline treatment of diseases in developing countries and LDCs, where the majority of the HIV/AIDS sufferers come from. This inevitable plight, although well known, and posited by the developing countries and LDCs during the Uruguay round of negotiations, was overlooked. This also necessitated the Doha Deceleration, which does not seem to have addressed the problem. The developed countries have also successfully utilised the TRIPS Agreement's IP rights protection criteria as a benchmark, to develop a much higher IP rights protection agenda through the introduction of TRIPS-plus provisions in bilateral and other multilateral agreements entered into with developing countries. The winners in the game are the patent-holding pharmaceutical corporations, software corporations, media corporations, and the developed countries where they are incorporated. The ones at the receiving end are the developing countries and the LDCs who were promised technology transfer to build a modern economy by the developed countries, but are faced with multiple problems of non-availability of affordable medicines for health care, besides others. This article seeks to study the justification for an extended IP rights protection under the TRIPS Agreement through an analysis of the philosophical underpinnings of the IP rights and the patent regime. It will be argued that the TRIPS Agreement is a major obstacle that the developing countries and the LDCs have been made to face as Members of the WTO (World Trade Organisation), with no end in sight for their miseries, and that the only possible solution is a review or an amendment of the TRIPS Agreement.     

Does India need to harmonize the law of patent exhaustion and parallel imports?

The amendment of patent law of India in 2005 to fulfill her international obligation under the TRIPS Agreement (World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) was an outcome of an attempt to balance the competing interests of several stakeholders, including indigenous pharmaceutical companies, multi-national pharmaceutical companies, non-governmental organizations and civil society groups concerned with access to affordable drugs. The adverse consequence of this delicate balancing is introduction of some provisions in the Act whose compatibility with the TRIPS Agreement is questionable, and which therefore are prone to litigations. Section 107A(b) of the amended patent law dealing with parallel imports is one such provision, which, if interpreted word for word could have significant connotations for the rights of a patent owner. This article aims to examine the inconsistencies intrinsic in Section 107A(b) and discusses the divergences in the Indian patent law associated with the doctrine of exhaustion and parallel imports. This article also proposes legal amendments with a view to eliminate inconsistencies intrinsic in the section and enlarge the ambit of the exhaustion principle conceptualized therein, while concurrently remaining compliant with the TRIPS Agreement.     

在交通预测中应用TRIPS软件对交通小区问题的处理研究

分析了在进行公路网规划的交通需求预测时,以行政区为单位的小区划分方法在交通量预分配与核查线调查流量存在较大偏差的原因.结合传统四阶段交通预测法提出二级分区的交通小区划分方法.给出根据此划分方法并应用TRIPS软件进行公路交通量预测的总体流程图,以及所需建立的两个主要模块,即交通分布模块和分配模块.还总结了建立抽象路网时如何合理选择小区中心点位置,以及建立小区中心联线时应该避免的几种不当方法.结合济南市干线公路网规划项目,给出一个交通小区抽象路网例图.     

我国国际贸易中知识产权保护的探析

本分析了我国国际贸易中的知识产权保护现状，找出了我国知识产权与TRIPS的差距，并提出了保护知识产权的具体措施。     

在TRIPS指导下完善我国对商业秘密的法律保护

TRIPS是我国在制定商业秘密保护法律规范时应当遵循的国际公约，而我国现有的规范无论是在对侵犯商业秘密行为的界定，还是在对具体保护措施的规定上都与这一公约要求的标准有明显的差距。我国立法者应科学与完整地界定侵害商业秘密行为的要件以及增强商业秘密保护的具体措施的完备性与有效性，使我国对商业秘密的保护水平达到TRIPS的标准，从而实现对商业秘密合法持有人充分与完全地保护，履行我国作为世贸组织成员国的义务。     

北京市宏观交通战略模型--TRISP模型

本文简要介绍了城市交通模型的内涵和北京市交通模型的发展过程,同时分析了城市宏观交通模型的特点及其存在的局限性.在此基础上对北京市TRIPS城市宏观交通模型的结构、各组成模型的基本原理及模型建立后的应用进行了简要介绍.     

从TRIPS协议看我国知识产权战略路径选择

TRIPS协议的制定和实施强化了国际知识产权的保护,既充分保障了发达国家的利益,也给发展中国家的技术经济和社会发展带来诸多不利的影响.在知识经济全球化的背景下,就我国如何趋利避害,应对TRIPS协议提出了几点措施.     

India's trade-related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights compliant pharmaceutical patent laws: what lessons for India and other developing countries?

India's trade-related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) compliant Patent (Amendment) Act 2005 saw the transformation of its laws from a process patent regime to a product patent regime. The amendments have had a direct impact on India's generic drugs manufacturing sector, which was developed through the process patent regime introduced under the 1970 Act. The knock-on effect will soon be felt both domestically and globally, as a number of developing countries have come to rely strongly on Indian generics. This article seeks to study the effectiveness of the Act of 2005, and if it can be seen as an instance of success of the TRIPS provisions in Articles 7 and 8 read along with the Doha Declaration. It will be queried if developing countries in the World Trade Organization can possibly benefit from the model set-up by India for the issuance of compulsory licenses, and to check the practice of ‘evergreening’ by pharmaceutical patent holders. Recent decisions from the Indian judiciary and the quasi-judicial authorities, along with the procedures and policies put in place will be used to carry out the study.     

发展中国家在TRIPS环境下的公共健康问题

在全球性的对于知识产权保护标准恣意拔高的情况下,发展中国家在愈来愈严格的国际知识产权保护标准下如何面对诸如艾滋病、疟疾和H1N1型流感等严重威胁公民健康的传染性疾病带来的公共健康危机．从法律角度和实务操作两个层面上研究发展中国家可能的解决途径．提出发展中国家必须要严格遵守业已通过具有强制性的TRIPS协议关于药品知识产权的诸项规定,以免遭受发达国家的贸易和经济制裁．发展中国家尤其是部分经济较为落后的发展中国家更应该在TRIPS协议框架内熟练应用平行进口等制度来维护本国公民的健康权和生命权．     

试析TRIPS限制性商业条款的适用与汽车知识产权的保护

常见于中外汽车技术贸易合同中的限制性商业条款对我国汽车知识产权的保护与发展的危害性是比较大的.对这种限制市场竞争的商业行为,国际社会特别是WTO的TRIPS协议给予了相应的法律规制.为此,对其所涉及的主要问题进行评析和论述.