지적재산권을 둘러싼 국제적 동향

Recently, the protection of intellectual property rights has become one of the most important concerns of international economic negotiation. As goods and services have increasingly depended on patents, copyrights, and trademarks to maintain their competitiveness in world markets, trade negotiators have participated in bilateral, regional and multilateral forums to achieve stronger protections through multilateral treaties and the efforts of international organizations. As a result, the harmonization of national laws and policies protecting intellectual property rights has become a key element in the deep integration of international economic policy. In this article I explain contemporary changes in the international law and governmental policy regarding intellectual property protection by using an analytic framework that focuses policy of America, European Union and Japan. When the final agreements were signed in Marrakesh in 1994, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) institutionalized the intentional laws of intellectual property rights, an achievement important not only for the U.S. national interest but for the future of innovation and expression in the world economy TRIPS is potentially the most important legal advance for the world trading system since the establishment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947. The negotiation of TRIPS is a response to developing countries growing production of and trade in innovation and expression products. Through the global institutionalization of the law, the agreement aims to stimulate more trade in these products