TRIPS FRAMEWORK & COMPETITION LAW INTERFACE: A REVIEW FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERS

Abstract

The story of emergence of an international legal order relating to recognition and enforcement of intellectual property rights is evident in examination of the questions relating to counterfeit goods during Tokyo Rounds (1972-1999), on the basis of which a draft ‘Agreement on Measures to Discourage the Importation of Counterfeit Goods’ was circulated in 1982.[1] Pursuant to the trade related IPRs centered discussions conducted during ‘Uruguay Round Negotiations’, TRIPs was finally brought into force with the WTO Agreement in 1994, which made global IP protection and enforcement an important part of the global trading system. TRIPs has provided for the minimum norms of protection & enforcement which should have otherwise established a uniform or harmonized legal framework.[2] Enforcement of TRIPs brought some important and fundamental changes to the IP protection system, such as: 1.) TRIPs was crafted as an important constituent of multi-trading system through the WTO framework, 2.) the broad approach behind TRIPs encompassed all major forms of IPRs[3], 3.) TRIPs provides for extensively detailed rules relating to enforcement of its IP provisions and 4.)TRIPs recognize and confirm the incidences of IPR abuses and anti-competitive practices which may distort overall wellbeing of the trading system.