Research On TRIPS-Plus Clauses In US FTA

As the negotiation of the WTO multiple trading system was hindered, thedeveloped countries and districts, represented by the US and the EU, are transferringthe forum for negotiations to promote their trade strategies continuously in thebackground of bilateral system. Although TRIPS is the most comprehensiveinternational conventions in the field of intellectual property protection under themultilateral system. However, due to the long-term irreconcilable contradictions anddisputes between the countries in the south and north, TRIPS is also the product ofinterests game between the countries in the south and north, and Whether developedcountries or developing countries are not very satisfied with it. While, in order tomaintain the core benefits of their states, to execute a high-standard protection ofintellectual property right, to achieve the global strategy of intellectual property right,the developed countries and districts, especially the US and the EU, tried to carry outthe high-standard protection of intellectual property right through bilateral tradeagreement, thus emerged the TRIPS-Plus clauses. As the rapid development of theFTA in recent years, the TRIPS-Plus, depended on the FTA, is expanding vigorously.This adds much pressure to the protection of intellectual property right in developingcountries virtually. China, as the largest developing country among WTO members,the possibility of encountering appeal and challenge of the TRIPS-Plus in the futurenegotiation of the FTA can not be excluded.This paper studies the TRIPS-Plus clauses in the FTA of the US by summarizingand analyzing the generation, development, main points and features of such terms toreveal its profound influence on developing countries and the US respectively, thusputs forward some countermeasures to China on the negotiation of FTA intellectualproperty right in the future. The present paper consists of five sections.The first section generally discusses the generation and expansion of theTRIPS-Plus clauses in the FTA of US. It mainly introduces the generation and presentpredicament of the TRIPS-Plus clauses, and how do the developed countries carry outtheir high-standard protection of intellectual property right through bilateral approach. The second section studies the FTA that signed by the US. It summarizes themain idea in the TRIPS-Plus which is embodied in FTA and reveals the primarycharacters of these TRIPS-Plus clauses.The third section is the comment on TRIPS-Plus clauses in the FTA of the US.This paper renders a detailed analysis of the cost and interest of the developingcountries if fulfill the TRIPS-Plus, the imparity to developing countries and theinfluence on the US caused by TRIPS-Plus clauses from the view of both China andthe US respectively. Besides, this section also predicts the development path of theTRIPS-Plus clauses.The forth section takes the FTAs of the US-Thailand and US-Jordan as examples,further demonstrates the adverse effect of the articles in the FTA of the US ondeveloping countries.The fifth section is the enlightenment of the TRIPS-Plus to China on thenegotiation of the FTA intellectual property right. On the basis of analyzing thearticles on intellectual property right in the FTA that China has concluded and theabove analysis and demonstration of the TRIPS-Plus clauses, the present paper furtherproposes the enlightenment of the TRIPS-Plus to China on the future negotiation ofthe FTA intellectual property right.