Are Foreigners Treated Equally Under TRIPS?

Authors: Gaétan de Rassenfosse, Paul H. Jensen, T’Mir Julius, Alfons Palangkaraya, and Elizabeth Webster

Abstract: The TRIPS Agreement, administered by the World Trade Organisation, ensures the smooth functioning of the international patent system. It promises among others that local and foreign firms are treated in the same, non-discriminatory manner. We test for whether national treatment has been upheld in the five largest patent offices and document the existence of a systematic bias against foreign firms in patent examination decisions. We find that filing international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty can reduce some of the bias.

Citation: de Rassenfosse, Gaétan and Jensen, Paul H. and Julius, T’Mir and Palangkaraya, Alfons and Webster, Elizabeth M., Are Foreigners Treated Equally Under TRIPS? (August 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3434547