International Intellectual Property Law

This course will cover the principal international institutions dealing with substantive IP law, current international debates, and the practice of WTO dispute settlement. Topics include: - The international framework for intellectual property law - Background to WIPO and the WTO TRIPS Agreement - Intellectual property as an international issue in relation to trade, development, technology transfer, the environment, and human rights - The law and practice of the WTO TRIPS Agreement - Current international responses to intellectual property issues Harmonisation and diversity in national intellectual property law This course considers a number of key issues of the debate over intellectual property and development, including: - the WIPO Development Agenda; - the World Trade Organization and the TRIPS Agreement; - bilateral and regional TRIPS-Plus Agreements, and the proposed Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement - the WIPO Copyright Treaties, access to knowledge (A2K) and the Creative Commons; - trade mark law, geographical indications, Fair Trade labels, and other certification schemes; - The Doha Declaration, the TRIPS Waiver, the WHO Global Strategy, and access to essential medicines - The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, intellectual property and climate change; - The Convention on Biological Diversity, access to genetic resources, and traditional knowledge; and The UPOV Convention, the FAO Agreement on Plant Genetic Resources, agricultural intellectual property and food security.