WTO progress on TRIPS and least developed countries

In advance of the Hong Kong meeting (see blog 28 November) the TRIPS Council have now reached at least some agreement. The deadline for least developed WTO member countries to meet their TRIPS obligations has been extended from 2006 to 2013 (with the deadine for patents for pharmaceuticals previously having been extended to 2016). There was also further commitment to technical support from developed member countries to assist in those obligations.

So far as it goes, this extension is a welcome flexibility for least developed countries. However, if they are party to regional trade agreements which require some provision of IP, and they do so, they will be subject to full TRIPS obligations. The decision also provides little detail as to the nature of assistance to be provided, and what form of IP laws need to be introduced to comply with TRIPS. These questions are of course outwith the immediate scope of the decision - but a reminder that the issue of IP protection is not just when, but also how and what.