Building respect for intellectual property—The journey toward balanced intellectual property enforcement

Abstract

AbstractThis paper provides a succinct history of how multilateral dialogue on intellectual property (IP) enforcement developed since the Agreement on Trade‐related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) came into effect in 1995. The early years of multilateral IP enforcement dialogue were politically volatile and turbulent; while some states strove for a further increased level of international IP enforcement, others requested to extend the transitional period to implement the minimum standards under the TRIPS Agreement. With the adoption of the WIPO Development Agenda in 2007, however, this situation started to change, and international dialogue shifted from a merely punitive conception of IP enforcement to the more holistic concept of building respect for IP. To understand the trajectory of this evolution, this article describes several IP enforcement initiatives that were undertaken somewhat contemporaneously at different international organizations, but which ultimately did not secure consensus. From this point, this paper elaborates on the concept of building respect for IP, examining its origins, its development at WIPO and the profound impact it has had on multilateral dialogue on IP enforcement, demonstrating how a development‐oriented shift in international IP policy has triggered a multilateral transformation in a more balanced, inclusive light.