TY - JOUR
T1 - Review of Article 27.3(b) and the patenting of life forms
T2 - hitting a BRIC wall in the WTO?
AU - Plahe, Jagjit
AU - Kukreja, Nitesh
AU - Ponnamperuma, Sunil
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Under Article 27.3(b) of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), all members are required to extend private property rights to life forms. Using official WTO documents, this article analyzes the negotiating positions of WTO members on life patents during a review of Article 27.3(b) which commenced in 1999 and is currently ongoing. Initially, developing countries raised serious ethical concerns regarding life patents, creating a clear North-South divide. However, over time the position of Brazil and India moved away from the ethics of life patents to the prevention of bio-piracy, a position supported by China. Russia too is supportive of life patents. A group of small developing countries have, however, continued to question the morality of life patents despite this "BRIC wall,"changing the dynamics of the negotiations from a North-South divide to one which now includes a South-South divide.
AB - Under Article 27.3(b) of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), all members are required to extend private property rights to life forms. Using official WTO documents, this article analyzes the negotiating positions of WTO members on life patents during a review of Article 27.3(b) which commenced in 1999 and is currently ongoing. Initially, developing countries raised serious ethical concerns regarding life patents, creating a clear North-South divide. However, over time the position of Brazil and India moved away from the ethics of life patents to the prevention of bio-piracy, a position supported by China. Russia too is supportive of life patents. A group of small developing countries have, however, continued to question the morality of life patents despite this "BRIC wall,"changing the dynamics of the negotiations from a North-South divide to one which now includes a South-South divide.
KW - Article 27.3(b)
KW - BRIC
KW - Ethics
KW - Intellectual property rights
KW - Life patents
KW - Negotiations
KW - TRIPS
KW - WTO
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104786414&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/15718069-BJA10018
DO - 10.1163/15718069-BJA10018
M3 - Review Article
AN - SCOPUS:85104786414
SN - 1382-340X
VL - 26
SP - 289
EP - 318
JO - International Negotiation: A Journal of Theory and Practice
JF - International Negotiation: A Journal of Theory and Practice
IS - 2
ER -