The TRIPS Regime of Patents and Test Data

The Fourth Edition of this preeminent work updates the author's detailed commentary on TRIPS provisions relating to patent protection. It articulates with unmatched clarity the specific steps that a government must take, in a wide variety of possible contexts, to ensure that its patent-related obligations under TRIPS are met. The presentation is arranged in an article-by-article format, following the TRIPS Agreement itself as it relates to patents. In this way, the author's incisive analysis covers every issue arising in patent administrative and legal practice, including the following:

• extensive new analysis of enforcement of patent rights in the context of competition law;
• expanded commentary on trade secrets and test data under Article 39;
• linkage between patent protection and the marketing approval of pharmaceutical products;
• interaction with the Paris Convention;
• public health considerations;
• alternate ways to transpose TRIPS obligations into national law;
• alternativeness of inventions as a condition of patentability; and
• standards of intellectual property protection as a bargaining chip in international trade.

The TRIPS Agreement has a direct impact on the daily activities of corporations, governments, and consumers. This book contains a very practical explanation of the meaning of the patent-related TRIPS provisions, how they should be reflected in national law, and how courts are expected to enforce them. For these reasons and more, the Fourth Edition--now retitled The TRIPS Regime of Patents and Test Data--is a crucially important resource for lawyers seeking compliance and government officials charged with the implementation of TRIPS obligations.