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Derrick Tai
Joined: Mar 7, 2003
Posts: 19 (view all)
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Gender & Age: Male & 32
Country: Canada
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WTO patent laws
March 12, 2003 - 12:26 PM
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I'm having trouble finding sources for drug patent laws on the WTO website, Anyone know where I could find them?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Doorik
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Simon Moss
Joined: May 7, 2002
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TRIPS and the WTO
March 13, 2003 - 07:15 AM
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Doorik,
I don't know how mush use some of my info will be, but here goes anyway.
WTO patent laws are outlined in TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellecutal Property), the final agreement made by the Urugauy round of the GATT in 1994. TRIPS came into force with the WTO on January 1, 1995, and is legally binding to all members of the WTO. See
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/trips_e.htm for the WTOs info on TRIPS
there is a direct link on that page to TRIPS in relation to pharmaceuticals as a factsheet. This link goes straight to the part of the WTO website regarding drugs.
On a personal note, I see the TRIPS agreement as one of the most contentious international agreements ever made. Because it is binding in international law through the WTO, this agreement has huge consequences for the power of information and knowledge in an increasingly knowledge dependent society. TRIPS can be a huge force for good or bad. Strong intellectual property laws encourage research, development and innovation; but only when enforced effectively.
As it is now, TRIPS is being used as another form of economic browbeating by the North through the maintenance of legitimised monopolies and cartels, controlling the information and knowledge vital to preserving the lives and welfare of millions.
Although progress is being made in the Doha round of negotiations in terms of using TRIPS more effectively (the developing countries are pushing for a reinterpretation of the clause that allows patent rights to be overruled in the case of major health/medical epidemics), the process is riddled with stalling and rhetoric from the US, EU and the rest of the North. Cipla, an Indian pharmaceutical company, have shown that they can manufacture retro-viral AIDS drugs for less than $1 per day per person, if they are allowed to break the worldwise patent held by a US company (it's one of the big 5). These druges are currently priced at about $10 000 per person, per year.
There are lots of good books out there on the issue, and quite a few NGOs have started making a lot of noise about the issue. Certainly Oxfam, medecins sans frontieres and the health NGOs have some grat info if u look at their sites.
Hope that was helpful
Mossy
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