Realising a Balanced and Effective System of Intellectual Property Protection within the World Trade Organisation
by Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
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Intellectual property is an increasingly important element of international trade and commerce, both of itself and as an embedded part of more elaborately transformed manufactures and services.
Such is also the case for Australia, as our trade profile continues to move away from commodities towards manufactures and services. The international legal and regulatory framework governing the trade in ideas (intellectual property-based manufactures and services) has for more than a century taken the form of a number of discrete multinational agreements, the Paris and Berne Conventio on a number of notable shortcomings, including the extent of their coverage and membership, and adherence and enforcement.
The World Trade Organisation sought to remedy some of these shortcomings through the negotiation during the long-running Uruguay Round of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), taking into account views on the various existing conventions and the experiences of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
However, the TRIPs Agreement is an evolving document, and the Doha Round of WTO negotiations launched in November 2001 contains a mandate for further negotiations on intellectual property issues within the WTO system.
This paper addresses a number of these issues – geographical indicators; indigenous intellectual property and traditional knowledge; patenting biotechnology; nonviolation dispute settlement; patent priority; and, internet domain names and trademarks - from the perspective of Australian commerce and industry.
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