For several years, research at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law (MPI) – in collaboration with experts from all over the world – has examined the trend of bilateral and regional agreements that include provisions on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights.
Building on this research, we have drafted a set of .
These Principles express our core concerns regarding:
- the use of IP provisions as a bargaining chip in international trade negotiations;
- the increasing comprehensiveness and complexity of international IP rules in bilateral and regional agreements;
- the lack of transparency and inclusiveness in the negotiating process; and
- the resulting imbalances that are often reflected in the respective IP provisions negotiated on the bilateral or regional level.
The Principles recommend international rules and procedures that can achieve a better, mutually advantageous and balanced regulation of international IP.
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The Principles represent the views of the and are by anyone who shares the objectives of the Principles.
They have been first presented to the public at the of the Association for Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property () in Oxford, United Kingdom, 23-26 June 2013.
is a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law and a Research Fellow for the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law at McGill University. A copy of the Principles is available .