Impact of the World Trade Organization on Intellectual Property Rights - Essay Example

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international body which has the main responsibility for regulating trade between different countries engaged in commercial activities. For example, the WTO standardizes trading policies by finding a common ground between different domestic policies (Kroll, 1999).
Recent years have proved to be challenging for trading activities, especially in what concerns the intellectual property rights. Due to differences in policies regarding the ownership and transference of intellectual rights from one person to another, these rights are a crucial issue of contention between countries engaged in trading activities at the international level (Kroll, 1999). The WTO continues to resolve disputes arising with regard to intellectual property rights by providing a standardized set of rules used in the judgment of these cases (Kroll, 1999).
Free trade recognizes individual rights to own and dispose of property and is a result of capitalism, which replaced the once popular mercantilism. Capitalism allows for privatization of wealth and the subsequent reduction of restrictions on trade, namely free trade (Craig, 1994).
Free trade is considered an economic provision for exchange of goods and services without the intervention of the government, especially in view of foreign trade. In this scenario, the traders utilize the principle of comparative advantage, i.e. both parties benefit from the trade interactions. Ricardo (1817) demonstrated the gains from free trade by an example between two countries, which can use comparative advantage. Matters of guiding policies dictate that free trade ought to rely on supply and demand governing the prices and availability of the goods and services. However, comparative advantage, demand, and supply do not guarantee fair trade. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More