The World Trade Organization Knowledge Agreements

The WTO intellectual property and services agreements (TRIPs and GATS) form the global legal framework in which governments now regulate trade in knowledge. This second edition analyses the provisions of the agreements and examines closely the thirteen years of implementation and revision. Gathering together the interpretations placed on the agreements by the WTO dispute settlement bodies, it reports on the initiatives taken by the members both to liberalise trade in knowledge and to shape international business regulation. Drawing on this, Christopher Arup assesses the future of the WTO as a global law-making institution. Three expanded case studies (legal services, genetic codes/essential medicines, and on-line media) illustrate the impact of the agreements and highlight the challenges faced by the WTO in reconciling free trade with social regulation.

Christopher Arup is Professor of Business Law at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University.