WTO came to Edinburgh

To get us ready for the G8, there was an influx of international lawyers to Edinburgh last week, to the International Law Association conference organised by the law school here. The topic was Regional Trade Agreements and the World Trade Organization.

While apparently rather dry, this was a very interesting event, considering issues relevant to our project: such can there be a challenge to the validity of an agreement requiring TRIPS PLUS IP protection, and no compulsory licences or parallel importing (excellent paper by Professor Abbott)? And even if it can be done (it would seem not that clear) what are the prospects of, say, least developed countries actually taking on the might of the largest countries?

Perhaps most interesting, however, was the fact that IP was only really considered around the borders of the event - a salutory reminder both of the existence of other areas of concern, and the need to raise awareness and stimulate debate, so that important practical issues raised by IP are considered in the wider legal framework.