Mapping the New Frontier of International IP Law: Introducing a TRIPs-plus Dataset

Abstract

This article introduces a new dataset on the intellectual property (IP) provisions included in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and makes it available for research and policy communities alike. Several PTAs include IP commitments that go well beyond the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). A sound knowledge of these TRIPs-plus commitments is essential in order to improve our understanding of what drives them and of their legal, social, and economic consequences. Yet, until now, these provisions have not been mapped in a comprehensive and systematic way. The T + PTA dataset fills this gap by documenting the existence of 90 types of IP provisions in 126 agreements signed between 1991 and 2016. We show that, even for like-minded countries, significant variations exist in their reliance on TRIPs-plus provisions, their degree of consistency across PTAs, and their preferences for some IP rights. We also find that strong TRIPs-Plus provisions are correlated with the depth of PTAs, the asymmetry between trade partners, and the strength of their domestic IP law. By making the T + PTA dataset available, we hope to create the opportunity for a new generation of research on TRIPs-plus agreements.

The US and EU’s Intellectual Property Initiatives in Asia: Competition, Coordination or Replication?

“…For example, South Korea has signed four free trade agreements with other Asian countries and Japan has signed seven. These agreements include an average of twelve TRIPS‐plus provisions overall (Morin and Surbeck 2020). Meanwhile, neither the EU nor the US has a fully‐fledged trade agreement with the largest economy in the region, China 1 .…”

“…However, our analysis examines some of the available information on the EU and US’s socialization initiatives within the Asia‐Pacific and more broadly. This work draws primarily on government documents, press statements and websites, as well as data from previous studies (Morin, 2020).…”

“…This is evident when we examine the other organizations that EU and US agencies cooperate with when they deliver their socialization programmes. Data from Morin (2020) measure the cooperation between different state and non‐state entities in delivering technical assistance programmes from 1995 to 2014, along with their agenda on IPR issues. There are two primary IPR agendas: a maximalist agenda and a minimalist agenda.…”

Democracia y profundidad de los compromisos adquiridos en acuerdos de libre comercio (1948-2020)

“…En el caso de los acuerdos comerciales, si bien esta una arista que se ha incorporado en el análisis, en general se ha abordado mayormente como una variable explicativa, (WTO, 2011;Ravenhill, 2011;Jo y Namgung, 2012) mientras que cuando ha sido abordada como dependiente, se ha estudiado mediante su frecuencia, la probabilidad que ocurrencia un tipo de acuerdo en específico o la profundidad determinados capítulos de un acuerdo (Lechner, 2016;Morin y Surbeck, 2020; Allee y Elsig, 2016;Cuevas, 2019) En ese sentido, una primera contribución del presente artículo es abordar el estudio de la profundidad de los acuerdos de libre en general, arista que ha sido menormente investigada, salvo estudios cuyo propósito es presentar bases de datos sobre capítulos específicos (Burri y Polanco, 2020;Baccini, Dür, y Elsig, 2014;Lechner, 2016;Morin y Surbeck, 2020;Morin, Dür, y Lechner, 2018), salvo en el caso de proyecto Design of Trade Agreements, (DESTA , 2022;Baccini, Dür, y Elsig, 2014) cuya información es utilizada en este artículo El artículo se organiza siguiendo la estructura que se describe a continuación. La primera sección expone el problema de investigación y el objeto de estudio, a partir de una revisión respecto a cómo ha sido abordado el estudio de los acuerdos comerciales, con énfasis en el papel del nivel democrático que presentan las partes concurrentes en el respectivo tratado, para finalizar con una presentación de antecedentes del caso de estudio.…”

Intellectual Property Rights and Agricultural Development: Evidence from a Worldwide Index of IPRs in Agriculture (1961-2018)

“…Simultaneously, another driver of IP reforms has been the signing of an increasing number of trade and investment agreements that include legally enforceable provisions related to IPRs (Biadgleng and Maur, 2011;Morin and Surbeck, 2020). The signing of these type of agreements imply clearly defined obligations that effectively bind the parties to implement measures that strengthen their IPRs systems (Horn et al, 2010).…”