ABSTRACT
This Article discusses the current predominance of natural rights theory in the area of intellectual property and of patents in particular. Due to the alleged problems of international theft and pirating of patents, the recent GATT negotiations saw intellectual property law come to center stage in the debate over trade. These negotiations concluded that trade-related aspects of intellectual property law can no longer be left to the public policy of individual countries, but require new international minimum standards.
The author discusses how the basic principles of natural rights theory have been used to convince the world community to move toward a universal world standard of intellectual property law. By using the concept of natural rights, all countries must thus recognize the natural property rights entitlement of the inventor. Thus, copying an invention is considered “immoral” by the community of nations and the rights of the inventor must be protected by positive law. However, the author notes that developing countries may not be as eager as developed nations to accept a natural rights premise.
140 The author seeks to establish the premise that the patent portion of TRIPS implements a natural property rights theory of patents by closely analyzing different TRIPS provisions. Professor Oddi also discusses how patents and inventors will be treated under such a theory and the different provisions. He then attempts to justify TRIPS independent of natural rights by analyzing the relevant provisions according to various economic theories of patents. Professor Oddi suggests that economic theories do not clearly support the natural rights theory of TRIPS. He concludes the Article by determining the economic results of transforming patents to universal entitlements as natural rights by focusing on the different Impacts of such a theory on developed and developing nations. The author also suggests various strategies for developing countries to cope with TRIPS. Finally, Professor Oddi questions whether implementing TRIPS is likely to provide the promised economic advantages to either developing or developed nations.
