Agreements on Trade Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights - Article Example

The agreement seeks to protect trademarks, copyright, business secrets, industrial materials, integrated circuitry, and geographical connotations related to intellectual property.

The agreement brought the issue of intellectual property rights to the global limelight like never before. The main area of the TRIPS agreement includes the minimum standards to be adhered to by all nations, the mode of enforcement of the rights, and the settlement of disputes. TRIPS provides the bare minimum standards to be arrived at by the member states on the protection of intellectual property rights. This is narrated by the nature of the rights, the exceptions, and the duration of time the rights are enforceable.

In defining these rights, the TRIPS agreement takes into account both the conventions that took place in Paris and Berne on intellectual property rights. TRIPS agreement further outlines how the rights of intellectual property are to be domesticated and ratified within the laws of the member countries. This involves the principles of administration and civil procedures of available remedies and criminal proceedings. Lastly, the TRIPS agreement seeks to ensure that its obligations are met among the member states by enforcing dispute settlement according to the rules specified by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The research paper critically analyses the success of the TRIPS agreement on safeguarding intellectual property taking into account the effects of the agreement on developing countries. The paper approaches this by seeking to answer the question “has the enforcement of such rights been unduly burdensome on developing nations?”

TRIPS AGREEMENT ON THE SUCCESS OF SAFEGUARDING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
In the global arena, the protection of intellectual property rights has been a major issue of concern. Laws on the protection of intellectual property rights are more strong and established in developed countries as opposed to developing countries where such legislation is weak.

An increase in global trade, especially in the export and import business did motivate the harmonization of intellectual property laws as stipulated in the agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS). This is a major and first success in the global protection of intellectual property. In this way, the TRIPS agreement provides a bare minimum standard and guidelines with an open option of raising the bar on the protection of intellectual property rights globally, especially among states where such legislation lacks visible infrastructure.

However, the TRIPS agreement's success in its obligations to protect intellectual property remains both a passive and active affair depending on existing trading circumstances. Motivation for new inventions has been one of the major factors driving the protection of intellectual property rights through increased research. However, the outcome of the research is always uncertain and unpredictable. All firms and interested parties are always competing to be the owners of discoveries meaning all of them do invest heavily but unfortunately only one will emerge fruitful at the end of it all.

Through the introduction of the TRIPS agreement governments have been whipped on the need to reward and protect local innovations because local innovations mean profits at the local level as opposed to it happening abroad. Such conditions have resulted in increased innovations domestically especially among developed nations which in effect have reduced consumer prices and lowered the cost of living substantially as opposed to relying on importation arrangements.