OECD Working Papers on International Investment
Selected studies on international investment and investment policy prepared for use within the OECD. They address such issues as investment agreements, dispute settlement, fair and equitable treatment, most favored nation treatment, and corruption.
- ISSN: 18151957 (online)
- https://doi.org/10.1787/18151957
Intellectual Property Rights in International Investment Agreements
An Overview
This article provides an overview of recent developments in investment treaty practice with regard to the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs). The analysis departs from traditional IPR studies developed almost exclusively in the context of the WTO-TRIPS Agreement. The aim of this study is to clarify the extent to which and how international investment agreements (IIAs), including Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) with an investment chapter, increase the scope of IPR protection beyond TRIPS minimum standards. Some IPR provisions found in the sample of RTAs extend IPR protection beyond WTO-TRIPS minimum standards, by providing supplementary coverage of specific standards or additional obligations under the intellectual property chapter. Expanded IPR protection can also derive from the unqualified treatment protection provisions found in IIAs. This note further explores possible reasons for the limited role played by investor-state arbitration in the enforcement of IPRs.
Keywords: intellectual property rights, international investment, investment agreements
JEL:
K33: Law and Economics / Other Substantive Areas of Law / International Law;
F21: International Economics / International Factor Movements and International Business / International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements;
F23: International Economics / International Factor Movements and International Business / Multinational Firms; International Business