Have developing countries gained from the marriage between trade agreements and intellectual property rights?

In 1995, the new WTO Agreement included an extensive set of rules governing TradeRelated Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). TRIPs established minimum standards for copyright, patent, trademark, trade secrets and geographical indications; specified public and private methods to enforce these rights; and provided developing countries with additional time to meet these goals. During the ensuing ten years, governments, international institutions and individuals have increasingly questioned whether developing countries are gaining from the marriage of trade agreements and intellectual property law. This paper uses historical, theoretical and empirical methods to explore whether developing countries have gained from the incorporation of IPR standards into the WTO framework.