ABSTRACT
Intellectual property is one of the most dynamic and volatile areas of global economic governance. Non-state actors always have played an important role in intellectual property policy, although states remain important as both the granters and guarantors of intellectual property rights. The dynamic and volatile evolution of the global economic governance of intellectual property underscores the unstable and changing relationships between power, paradigms and players. The chapter examines the evolution of international intellectual property policies, with a focus on the institutional and political contestation, players, paradigms and power. It examines the institutional proliferation and evolution of global governance of intellectual property. The chapter presents the contestation over intellectual property and public health. It discusses the tactic of vertical forum-shifting and the turning away from multilateral venues. It examines the implications of these changes for global economic governance of intellectual property.
