Friday, October 26, 2007 Int’l coordination for IP protection By Clint Fabiosa & Andrew Ong I protect
ALTHOUGH the first international treaties protecting intellectual property rights were reached in the 1880s, coordination across the countries for intellectual property (IP) protection remained inadequate, until recently.
Intellectual property rights were first included in the Uruguay Round negotiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1986-1993 with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips). Trips required signatories to make it easier for their citizens and others to obtain and enforce IP rights.
Trips member-countries are made aware that if their IP laws seem to support innovation on paper but in practice do not, they generate little besides cynicism.
Conversely, cost effective means to secure, transfer, and enforce IP rights boost cultural development and standards of living, as well as promote public health and safety.
People who are concerned about cultural growth and preservation, as well as improved health and economic well-being, understand how IP protection serves those ends.
