Clift, Charles --- "Why IPR Issues Were Brought to GATT: A Historical Perspective on the Origins of TRIPS" [2010] ELECD 442; in Correa, M. Carlos (ed), "Research Handbook on the Protection of Intellectual Property under WTO Rules" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Protection of Intellectual Property under WTO Rules

Editor(s): Correa, M. Carlos

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847209047

Section: Chapter 1

Section Title: Why IPR Issues Were Brought to GATT: A Historical Perspective on the Origins of TRIPS

Author(s): Clift, Charles

Number of pages: 19

Extract:

1 Why IPR issues were brought to GATT:
a historical perspective on the origins of
TRIPS
Charles Clift


Introduction
Intellectual property rights have been with us a long time, at least since the
15th century when the practice spread from Florence to Venice and then
to other countries in Northern Europe and to North America by the 17th
century. Historically, the institution of patents and copyrights as used to
stimulate invention and creativity by protecting for varying lengths of time
the invention or creation from imitation or copying. Typically, these rights
were also used or misused as a form of patronage by the handing out of
monopolies on the sale of particular products, not necessarily new inven-
tions, to favoured individuals. In England, these rights were embodied in
`letters patent'. The Statute of Monopolies (1623) sought to put an end to
the misuse of the system by allowing the grant of a 14-year monopoly only
for new inventions.
As the system spread, it also became clear that the grant of patents and
copyright, although national in scope, had international implications.
Countries had an interest in providing rights to their own nationals while
denying them to others. The USA, along with many other countries, prac-
tised such discrimination in the 19th century. Less advanced countries
spent much effort fighting to acquire technology from more advanced
countries, and the more advanced countries spent much effort fighting
to prevent other countries acquiring their technologies ­ their patent and
copyright laws being one weapon ...