Pirates on the High Seas

The United States and Global Intellectual Property Rights

Bénédicte Callan

Council on Foreign Relations

1998

Bibliographic Data

Forward

Among the most notable accomplishments of the new World Trade Organization is the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, which brought the issue of intellectual property rights into a multilateral trade framework for the first time. A nation’s intellectual property policy had previously been a domestic issue, loosely coordinated through the World Intellectual Property Organization. With the inclusion of intellectual property rights in the Uruguay Round agreement, differences between countries became a legitimate subject of trade disputes. The Council on Foreign Relations assembled a Study Group, chaired by Ellen Frost of the Institute for International Economics, to assess the effects of the TRIPs agreement and consider potential U.S. policies to combat the piracy of intellectual property around the world.

In this paper, Benedicte Callan argues that a change in strategy on intellectual property is necessary, not so much because American goals have changed as because the challenges are new. Japanese and European ambivalence, Asian reluctance, and enforcement problems all present obstacles to further progress if the United States continues to pursue a bilateral strategy. Regional agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation might play an important role in the coordination of national intellectual property policies and the creation of global standards, but they cannot be superimposed willy-nilly onto the global system. Instead, the United States should infuse intellectual property rights in future multilateral forums while considering three new tactics: (1) pursuing standards for big emerging markets separate from other developing countries; (2) providing aid to those developing countries that attempt to enforce intellectual property rights; and (3) opening an internal debate on the place of intellectual property in overall U.S. trade policy.

As technology becomes a greater part of trade and trade itself becomes a bigger proportion of economic activity, U.S. interests in global intellectual property rights have become a critical aspect of trade policy. New information technologies and bioscience-based treatments will make international agreements on intellecual property rights more urgent. The United States needs a coordinated strategy, with a long-term objective of creating a sustainable discussion on intellectual property standards with developing countries. Trade conflicts cannot be avoided, but battles should be carefully chosen to ensure that the U.S. position occupies the high ground. Callan puts forth the case that a new strategy requires the United States to deemphasize bilateralism and pursue more active regional and multilateral strategies.

Gary C. Hufbauer
Director of Studies Council of Foreign Relations
December 1997