Intellectual property is heralded bу some as the “foundation of human existence”, protecting invention and innovation while improving standards of life through choices for consumers and new outlets for human activity. Others see intellectual property rights (“IPRs”) as merely а government sanctioned monopoly and subsidy that puts territorial borders around technologies and other inventions so that firms can maximize their profits.
What role does the Free Trade Area of the Americas (“FTAA”) play in this context? Can this regional trade agreement counter the wave of higher IPRs standards generated through bilateralism? Can developing countries use their numerical advantage in the FТ АА negotiations to include issues fundamental to sustainable development, traditional knowledge, for instance, that have still not been resolved Ьу the WТО or the World intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”)? Or, is the FT АА merely another stepping stone to higher intellectual property standards that primarily benefit developed countries that are home to the producers of knowledge and owners of IPRs?
This article asserts that the FT АА presents more of а risk than an opportunity for intellectual property to act as а tool for sustainable development. lt analyzes some of the intellectual property provisions in the draft Chapter on IPRs that exemplify the loss of countries’ ability to take measures and indispensable to ensure IPRs do not negatively affect key areas to sustainable development. ln addition, it looks at the uncertain possibilities of the FТАА having positive outcomes for development, such as precluding bilateral negotiations.