The Making of the Trips Agreement

The Making of TRIPS presents for the first time the diverse personal accounts of the negotiators of this unique trade agreement. These rich contributions illustrate how different policy perspectives and trade interests were accommodated in the final text, and map the shifting alliances that transcended conventional boundaries between developed and developing countries, with a close look at issues such as copyright for software, patents on medicines, and the appropriate scope of protection of geographical indications. Contributors share their views on how intellectual property fitted into the overall Uruguay Round; the political and economic considerations driving TRIPS negotiations; the role of non-state actors; the sources of the substantive and procedural standards that were built into the TRIPS Agreement; and future issues in the area of intellectual property. In probing how negotiations led to an enduring agreement that has served as a framework for policy-making in many countries, the contributions offer lessons for current and future negotiators. The contributors highlight the enabling effect of a clear negotiating agenda, and underscore the important, but distinct, roles of the chair, of the secretariat, and, above all, of the negotiators themselves.