Globalising Intellectual Property Rights: The Trips Agreement

In Globalising Intellectual Property Rights, Matthews looks at various aspects of the TRIPS Agreement: agenda-setting, legal interpretation, implementation, enforcement and revision - from the viewpoint of global business interests and developing countries. It is argued that the Agreement was largely the result of an initiative by multinational companies who sought to protect their own intellectual property through international law, and, furthermore, that it is these multinational companies who are now its main guardians. The book concludes that the history of the TRIPS Agreement and the role of business is a clear example of governance by non-state actors on a global scale.
This book will be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of international relations, intellectual property law, international economic law and development studies.

Duncan Matthews is a Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law, Queen Mary, University of London. He has written widely on intellectual property rights, environmental policy and the single European market.