​​​​ ​This book focuses on a new generation of bilateral and regional agreements negotiated by the EU with developing countries and which include intellectual property (IP) provisions setting standards exceeding those of the TRIPS Agreement. The contributions critically analyse the IP standards found in these agreements; their potential for reforming the international IP system; the implications for the multilateral IP system and other areas of international law such as human rights; and the often neglected topic of implementing the IP obligations in these agreements.​

Examining how trade agreements are interpreted both in trade tribunals and in the United Kingdom, this innovative book provides a well-rounded exploration of the numerous UK free trade agreements, including the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and their legal and policy implications for intellectual property.

During the last 15 years, bilateral trade agreements have become increasingly more common. All bilateral trade agreements concluded by the European Union and the United States contain standards of intellectual property (IP) protection and enforcement that go beyond the protection agreed upon in the TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement. This poses important challenges to developing countries who are parties to these agreements, but often do not have the level of development and capacity to undertake innovative research which would allow them to take full advantage of the benefits of strong IP protection and enforcement. This book offers a legal and a political-scientific view on the phenomenon of strong IP protection and enforcement in bilateral trade agreements to which developing countries are parties. After providing a comprehensive analysis of the IP rights and obligations contained in recent bilateral trade agreements concluded by the EU, this book highlights the IP policy-making process in a developing country that has already accepted TRIPS-plus provisions, including Jamaica and the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) region.

This study brings together two major sources of growth in the modern economy: trade and new ideas. Trade is a crucial process to improve economic specialisation and raise the productivity of economies. It is also a channel to diffuse technology and knowledge across countries. International exchange is therefore helping countries to modernise their economies. New ideas are all the innovations, technologies, know-how and business models that gradually power the economy - the intangible assets that define a significant part of modern economic growth. They are the basis for a society's stock of intellectual property, and that stock increases every time there are investments in research and development, production methodologies, brands, novel product design, business know-how and new artistic creations. Most societies allow for protection of intellectual property because intellectual property is necessary for prosperity. Our mission for this multi-year study was to get a much better and granular understanding of what role that intellectual property rights (IPRs) play for trade, productivity and growth, and how trade policies for IPRs have developed over time. Even by our cautious estimates, the results are very clear: copyrights, geographical indications, patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights support trade and value added in Europe, and stronger IPR provisions in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) increase the payoff even more.

Examining how trade agreements are interpreted both in trade tribunals and in the United Kingdom, this innovative book provides a well-rounded exploration of the numerous UK free trade agreements, including the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and their legal and policy implications for intellectual property. Providing a detailed assessment of the continuing role of EU standards in the UK, Phillip Johnson highlights how the UK has played an active role in shaping EU intellectual property law and policy. He explores the extent to which the UK's "new" trade agreements are tied to existing EU law and how this will preserve those standards in the UK, and how this might been received both nationally and globally. An extensive range of critical issues is covered, including copyright, patents, designs, trade marks, border control and technology transfer as well as featuring a calendar of EU laws which are replicated in the UK's current free trade agreements. This authoritative book will be an important source of reference for academics and practitioners seeking to understand the role of intellectual property law in UK and EU free trade agreements, as well as scholars and students of intellectual property, trade laws, and European Law.

Master's Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Business economics - Economic Policy, grade: 1,9, Cologne Business School Köln, language: English, abstract: The following paper refers to the potential of international free trade agreements to create interconnected economic markets, which require a common trade policy of the contracting countries. The difficulty in this approach is to ensure an economic integration of both countries on the basis of bilateral treaties, despite differing cultural, social and economic attitudes. As an effect of the continuing globalization and the increased international interconnectedness, there is generally a rising number of international free trade agreements among countries with the intention to achieve economic growth and welfare that on the other hand simultaneously led to an increased amount of criticism arising from non-governmental organizations, consumer protection organizations or environmental groups. This oppositeness has received a lot of attention during the recent negotiations and implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and Canada. Similar to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which is a foreseen free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States that has been temporarily suspended due to huge protests, both agreements have in common that they bear more criticism that than any other free trade agreement ever before. This is why it is interesting to know to which degree there is a correlation of similarities and differences between a modern free trade agreement such as the CETA and an already established treaty like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Mexico and Canada. According to the title, there will be “An analysis of the benefits and critique between the free trade agreements NAFTA and CETA in a historical comparison” with the purpose of figuring out whether a certain contracting country is benefiting from the NAFTA or the CETA or if it is experiencing any social, environmental, cultural, economic or other disadvantages. In the following segments these aspects will be examined, contrasted and evaluated with the support of studies and current data to provide meaningful findings and to give a final recommendation for action at the end of the paper.

Contemporary trade policy is increasingly framed in geo-strategic terms. But how much of that rhetoric is reflected in actual policy choices by the EU or its trading partners? This book provides a first systematic study of the broader international context in which EU trade agreements are conceived, negotiated, and designed. Building on a refined conceptualisation of geo-economics, the book develops a cogent framework that combines insights from scholarship on the design of free trade agreements with ideas from foreign policy analysis. Empirically, the analysis focuses on the relations between the EU and the Asia-Pacific. Following the United States’ pivot to Asia and the EU’s Global Europe strategy, China’s backyard has become the main arena in which global powers’ geo-economic strategies overlap. Building on a series of case-studies, combining the perspectives from the EU and its trading partners, the book shows that the rhetoric of geo-economic competition is yet to catch up with the actual negotiation and design of free trade agreements. This volume will be of great interest to scholars, students and practitioners who want to gain a holistic understanding of contemporary trade negotiations.