TRIPS-plus provisions
Also called: TRIPS-plus · Topic: International Trade Policy, WTO and Intellectual Property · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
TRIPS-plus provisions are intellectual-property obligations in trade agreements that go beyond the minimum standards set by the WTO's TRIPS Agreement. Examples include data exclusivity, patent-term extension, and weakening safeguards such as India's Section 3(d). Developing countries often resist them because they can delay cheap generic medicines.
Example
In its trade negotiations with EFTA, the UK and the EU, India resisted demands for data exclusivity and similar TRIPS-plus terms. It did this to protect its generics industry, often called the "pharmacy of the world".
Don't confuse with
- TRIPS minimum standards: these are the WTO-wide baseline every member must meet, such as patents lasting 20 years from filing. TRIPS-plus terms are extra commitments made in separate agreements such as FTAs.
Related concepts
- Intellectual property rights
- TRIPS
- Patent
- Evergreening of patents
- Pre-grant opposition
- Compulsory licensing
- Parallel import
- Data exclusivity
- Patent pool
- Patent thicket