Day May 26, 2020

Non-Violation and Situation Complaints under the TRIPS Agreement: Implications for Developing Countries

[Nirmalya Syam] While the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) provided for the applicability of non-violation and situation complaints to the settlement of disputes in the area of intellectual property (IP), when the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements were adopted in 1994, a moratorium was put in place until WTO Members could agree on the scope and modalities for the application of such complaints. However, for more than two decades, discussions in the TRIPS Council on the subject have remained inconclusive. The biannual WTO Ministerial Conference has granted extensions of the moratorium with regularity. This paper reviews the debate on the applicability of non-violation and situation complaints under the TRIPS Agreement, including the arguments consistently held by two WTO Members that if the moratorium is not extended by consensus, non-violation and situation complaints would become automatically applicable.

EIFL COMMENTS ON KENYA’S IP BILL

[Electronic Information for Libraries] EIFL has provided comments to the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) on the draft Intellectual Property Bill, 2020, which aims to consolidate existing laws relating to intellectual property. The draft Bill also proposes mandating the development of a national strategy and policy on intellectual property, a potentially useful means of framing copyright within national priority areas such as literacy and education, digital inclusion, research and innovation. A national strategy also provides the opportunity to highlight the place of libraries in national information infrastructures that help deliver on government policies, and the need for copyright laws to support library activities and services in pursuit of these public interest objectives.