Get Impact Of The World Trade Organization TRIPS Agreement On The ... - Who

The World Intellectual Property Organisation or WIPO is a UN specialized agency created in 1967 to promote intellectual property (IP) protection and encourage creative activity all over the world. WIPO is basically a global forum for IP policy, services, information and cooperation.

The WTO agreements cover goods, services and intellectual property. They spell out the principles of liberalization, and the permitted exceptions. They include indivi- dual countries' commitments to lower customs tariffs and other trade barriers, and to open and keep open services markets.

TRIPS establishes minimum standards for the availability, scope, and use of seven forms of intellectual property namely, trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications, patents, industrial designs, layout designs for integrated circuits, and undisclosed information or trade secrets.

The TRIPS Agreement requires Member countries to make patents available for any inventions, whether products or processes, in all fields of technology without discrimination, subject to the normal tests of novelty, inventiveness and industrial applicability.

The TRIPS Agreement obliges WTO members to make certain notifications to the TRIPS Council. These notifications allow members to review each others' legislation, an important part of the council's work. They also promote the transparency of members' policies on intellectual property protection.

The TRIPS Agreement provided special transition rules for a situation where a developing country did not provide product patent protection in a given area of technology on 1 January 2000. This provision was especially relevant to pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical inventions.

The overall objective of the WTO is to help its members use trade as a means to raise living standards, create jobs and improve people's lives. The WTO operates the global system of trade rules and helps developing countries build their trade capacity.

The WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), negotiated during the 1986-94 Uruguay Round, introduced intellectual property rules into the multilateral trading system for the first time. What is the WTO?