A Practical Guide to Working with TRIPS

This book is a concise and accessible guide to the practical workings of the TRIPS agreement (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) for policymakers and their legal advisers. The book offers a unique insider's account of how the international rules of IP function in practice within a broader legal framework that consists of WTO law and dispute resolution procedures. It clarifies how IP law and trade law must be dealt with in a coherent and sustainable manner, and provides practical guidance on how to read public policy objectives into the formulation and application of IP laws and related regulation, within the legal framework established by TRIPS. The book is concise and clear, and cuts through the textual clutter and complexity that afflicts policymaking and negotiation under the TRIPS regime.

As Director of the WTO IP Division, Antony Taubman is responsible for overseeing all of the WTO's IP-related activities, including the 1994 Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, technical cooperation and capacity-building activity, and related dispute settlement matters. He is also responsible for managing WTO activity related to government procurement and trade and competition policy, as these are in the same division at WTO. He is able to provide a unique insiders' perspective on the subject.

He has published widely on the topic of international intellectual property, writing papers on such topics as TRIPS and compulsory licensing; the public domain and intellectual property law treaties; public-private management of IP for public health in developing countries; and the international patent system and biomedical research, and co-authored a guide to public sector IP management in the life sciences.