A Long, Strange Trips: the Pharmaceutical Industry Drive to Harmonize Global Intellectual Property Rules, and the Remaining Wto Legal Alternatives Available to Third World Countries

Abstract

This chapter considers how the state of affairs came about, and what it means for the Third World. It provides some background on the range of possible patent regimes and emphasizes that there is more than a single approach to patent policy. The chapter recounts the US pharmaceutical industry's political offensive over the last fifteen years designed to force all nations to adopt restrictive patent laws on the model of the United States. It discusses the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Agreement ("TRIPS" or "the Agreement"), the basic thrust of which is to require all signatory nations to adopt US-style patent laws. The chapter considers the costs and benefits of various patent policy alternatives and focuses on compulsory licensing schemes. It outlines a patent policy approach for Third World nations that conforms to the TRIPS Agreement and argues that pharmaceutical patent policy alternatives remain viable under the TRIPS Agreement.

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