WTO AGREEMENTS ON IP

World Trade Organization, as an institution was established in 1995. It replaced General

Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) which was in place since 1946. India has been
member of GATT since 1948. WTO seeks to give more weightage to interests of developing
countries in framing of multilateral treaties. Here, a number of other aspects have been
brought into, such as Intellectual property under Trade related aspects of Intellectual
Property (TRIPS), Services by General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS), Investments
under Trade related Investment Measures (TRIMS) which were not covered in GATT.

Principles of trading - WTO

Non Discrimination

● Most Favoured Nation

● National Treatment
Free Trade

Predictability

Promoting fair competition

Encouraging Development and Economic Reforms

TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of

Intellectual Property Rights)
The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an
international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that sets
down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation as applied to
nationals of other WTO Members. It was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994 and came into effect on 1st
January 1995.
The sections of intellectual property that this agreement covers are:
1. Patents including the protection of new varieties of plants.
2. Trademarks including service marks.
3. Copyright and related rights
4. Industrial designs.
5. Geographical indications including appellations of origin.
6. The layout-designs of integrated circuits, and
7. Undisclosed information including trade secrets and test data.
This agreement has three main feature areas, which are:
1. Standards – The Agreement defines the minimum standards of protection that needs to
be provided by each member country for each of the main areas of Intellectual Property
covered under this agreement. Elements of protection are specified, namely such as subject
matter that requires protection, rights to be conferred, exceptions to those rights etc.
2. Enforcement – This section deals with domestic procedures, provisional measures, and
remedies for the enforcement of intellectual property rights that are available to the IP right
holders. It also laid down certain general principles that are applicable to all IPR enforcement
procedures.
3. Dispute settlement – This provision of the agreement deals with the disputes between
member countries of WTO about enforcement of TRIPS-related obligations.

TRIMs (Trade-Related Investment

Measures)
It is an agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures which specifies the rules that are
applicable to the domestic regulations a country applies to foreign investors. The agreement
is applicable to all members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The agreement was
formalized in 1994 and came into effect in 1995.
The TRIMs Agreement prohibits certain trade-related investment measures that violate the
general elimination of quantitative restrictions and national treatment requirements of GATT.
It has put restrictions on some of the policies like local content requirements; trade balancing
rules that have been used to both protect the interests of domestic industries.
Features of TRIMs
Offering equal rights to the foreign investor on par with the domestic investor
Abolition of restriction imposed on foreign capital.
No limitation or ceiling on the quantum of foreign investment.
Granting of permission of without restrictions to import raw material and other components
Abolition of restrictions on any area of investment
Export of the part of the final product will not be mandatory.

India and WTO

India is the founding member of the WTO. India was in favour of
multilateral trade approach. It enjoys MFN status and allows the same status to all other
trading partners. India has joined the WTO in order to integrate the domestic economy with
the world economy. Our country had been depending on export and import for coping with
the domestic needs of technology, machinery and consumer goods. In the absence of WTO
membership, we had to negotiate separately with each and every country and be at a
disadvantageous position.