TRIPs Revisited

Abstract

The Doha Declaration was widely perceived as a victory for the developing countries and Access Campaign network insofar as all WTO members agreed to a flexible interpretation of TRIPs provisions for measures taken to deal with public health concerns. The main proposition of the IP–public health debate had been not so much that IP protection per se ran counter to ensuring access to medicines and public health in general, but rather that the restrictive interpretation and implementation of certain TRIPs provisions significantly reduced governments’ options for ensuring such access in affordable terms, particularly in developing countries. Hence, although concerns were often raised about the negative implications of TRIPs itself on the worldwide accessibility of affordable new drugs, the aim of the Campaign and of developing countries was not so much to overhaul TRIPs, but rather to protect and use the flexibilities contained in it. It is in this sense that the Declaration was a victory, in that it succeeded precisely in claiming back such flexibilities. Not surprisingly, it did not pose a challenge to TRIPs; quite the contrary, by reiterating members’ commitment to TRIPs it helped to further legitimise it.