TRIPS Agreement (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), Doha Declaration, and TRIPS Plus

The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994. The World Trade Organization (WTO) later replaced GATT as the legal entity for regulating global trade and commerce in 1995. Because of the access to global markets that it provides for its members, countries seeking membership in the WTO are legally bound by the WTO’s 18 multilateral trade agreements, which include the TRIPS Agreement. Among these multilateral trade agreements, the TRIPS Agreement has the greatest impact on the pharmaceutical sector, particularly on drug patents and access to medicines. The TRIPS Agreement is of global significance because it introduced global minimum standards for protecting and enforcing almost ...