| The recent rise of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements(FTAs)reflects that developed countries aim at enacting new rules that are more accordant with their interests in the new environment of international trade and investment.In such a background,the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP)comes into being as a typical FTA,but with a wider area,higher standards and more countries.The contents of the TPP go far beyond the standards drafted by the World Trade Organization and the new regulations cover online commerce,the treatment of foreign investors,more comprehensive protection for intellectual property,labor codes,and an agreement for neutrality regarding state-owned enterprises.Among these areas,the regulations from Intellectual Property Chapter try to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights(IPRs)to a level stricter than the Agreement On Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Right(TRIPS),which triggered disputes inside the TPP members and extended these arguments into the whole international civil society.These provisions in the TPP are called TRIPS-Plus provisions since they weaken'flexibilities' and 'special and differential treatment' granted to developing and least developed countries in the TRIPS.These TRIPS-plus provisions constantly raise the issue of whether or not pharmaceutical patents should be enhanced by extending the range and the duration of such patents.To some extent,the TPP is indeed beneficial for the promotion and development of pharmaceuticals through its high standard of protection for IPRs.However,it has been widely criticized for introducing increased data exclusivity provisions,creating the possibility of "evergreening" patents due to the patentability of new uses of known products,and increasing IP protection terms for office delays in granting patents and marketing approval.Therefore,the TPP has been considered to deprive people of adequate treatments by delaying generic competition in the pharmaceutical sector,especially in developing countries whose lifesaving treatments mainly depend on the generic drugs for large parts of the population.This research,based on the comparison of legal texts of the TPP and the TRIPS,interpretive analysis and an examination of various policy strategies,and case studies of the domestic pharmaceutical industry,successful national experiences and corrective measures enacted in different countries,will try to explain why these provisions in the IP Chapter of the TPP are inconsistent with the TRIPS and the Doha Declaration on balancing patent rights for the pharmaceutical industry with public health and bioethical goals,and examine IP protection through the various lenses of culture and moral philosophy to find new approaches for dealing with these confli'cts.This thesis is divided into 7 sections to illustrate the influences of TPP's provisions on public health and potential approaches to handle these issues.Part one briefly introduces the background of TPP's formation,relevant methodology and overall:framework.Part two outlines the literature review about previous works on comments and criticism on TPP's provisions and different opinions of solving these negative influences.Part three gives a basic understanding of IP rights,the right to health,human rights,pharmaceutical patents,pharmaceutical industry and drug availability.Part four analyzes the legal texts based on the legal interpretation and policy study of the TPP agreement,while making comparisons with the TRIPS.Part five focuses on case studies of important and representative dispute settlement cases in the area of TRIPS and pharmaceutical patents,as well as domestic cases that have found successful solutions and corrective measures to cope with the strategies of drug companies.Part six discusses traditional approaches and new approaches of solving the conflict between drug patent protection and public health.Part seven concludes integrated suggestions about the TPP and future concerns and expectations for the solution to the conflict. |
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