Author: Peter Yu

The COVID-19 TRIPS Waiver and the WTO Ministerial Decision

[Peter Yu] Abstract: .. This chapter traces the TRIPS waiver debate from the submission of the original proposal by India and South Africa in October 2020 to the final adoption of the Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement in June 2022. The chapter further evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of this newly adopted decision, comparing it with the earlier TRIPS waiver proposal. It concludes by offering suggestions for future actions that WTO members on both sides of the waiver debate could take to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

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A Critical Appraisal of the COVID-19 TRIPS Waiver

[Peter Yu] This chapter offers a critical appraisal of the COVID-19 TRIPS waiver proposal. It begins by identifying the arguments for the waiver. It then turns to arguments against the proposal, including those made by policymakers and commentators who question the waiver’s effectiveness. After documenting both sides of the debate, this chapter concludes by exploring whether we should support the text-based negotiations on this instrument – and if so, whether we should also support its adoption.

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US-China Intellectual Property Trade Wars

[Peter Yu] Abstract: More than two decades ago, the literature on the Chinese intellectual property system was filled with commentaries on the trade threats exchanged between the United States and China in relation to the inadequate protection and enforcement of  intellectual  property rights in the latter. At that time, China has not yet joined the World Trade Organization. In the past few years, we once again have been confronted with multiple rounds of trade threats—this time as part of a trade war, which has thus far involved tariffs on close to $750 billion worth of goods. Although the current U.S.-China trade war implicates many items ranging from agricultural produce to electronic goods to financial services, inadequate protection and enforcement of  intellectual property rights in China remains one of the few oft-cited justifications.

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Intellectual Property, Global Inequality and Subnational Policy Variations

[Peter Yu] Abstract: Commissioned for an edited volume on intellectual property, innovation and global inequality, this chapter begins by discussing where developments in middle-income countries fit into the North-South debate. The chapter then moves from the frequently discussed inequality among countries to inequality within countries—a topic that has received fast-growing attention from trade and development economists but that the intellectual property literature has insufficiently studied.

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Caught in the Middle: WIPO and Emerging Economies

Abstract … How have emerging economies influenced the mandate, structure and activities of WIPO? What are the positive and negative impacts of these economies? Has their arrival transformed the U.N. specialized agency? Tackling these questions in turn, this chapter begins by describing the changing landscape in the international intellectual property regime. It then explores the emerging economies’ impacts on WIPO and its activities. The chapter concludes by offering insights into the organization’s future.

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China’s Innovative Turn and the Changing Pharmaceutical Landscape

… Since the mid-2000s, China has taken an innovative turn that has serious ramifications for the global pharmaceutical landscape and future issues lying at the intersection of intellectual property and public health. To be sure, many policymakers and commentators still focus unduly on the problems in the Chinese intellectual property system. Notable recent examples include the Trump administration’s Section 301 reports and the United States’ second complaint against China for violating the WTO TRIPS Agreement. Nevertheless, it is time that policymakers and commentators paid greater attention to the changing Chinese pharmaceutical landscape and its many ramifications.

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Fair Use and Its Global Paradigm Evolution

Abstract: Legal paradigms change in response to political, economic, social, cultural and technological conditions. While these paradigms have moved from developed to developing countries, they rarely move in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, some transplants from developed countries do involve legal paradigms that align well with the needs, interests, conditions and priorities of developing countries. A case in point is the transplant of the fair use model in U.S. copyright law, which has attracted considerable debate, research and policy attention in the past few decades.

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