2021 part 2

15/ Virtual seminar to explore TRIPS and trade in knowledge

15 APRIL 2021

The WTO is organizing a virtual seminar on 20 April 2021 to explore the burgeoning trade in knowledge within the framework of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The webinar is part of a series of events to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the TRIPS Agreement, and to reflect on the impact and evolution of the most comprehensive multilateral treaty on intellectual property protection and enforcement.

The seminar builds on, and contributes to, the WTO Secretariat’s work to update and broaden its outreach and capacity building on the policy and development implications of the IP dimension of knowledge flows. It draws on the insights from an earlier Seminar on Intellectual Property and Knowledge Flows in a Digital Era and foreshadows a WTO publication, Trade in Knowledge, to be published later this year.

Panellists will look at the growth and diversity of trade in digital products as defined by intellectual property rights, trade in IP products on digital platforms, and the knowledge component of global value chains. They will explore how IP and licensing practices define and enable trade in digital products and support trade on digital platforms, as well as their coherence with the trading system and development opportunities.

Expert speakers will join the webinar from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United States International Trade Commission (USITC), the private sector and academia, as well as the WTO Secretariat.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the TRIPS Agreement in 2020, the Secretariat organized a commemorative event on 24 November 2020, followed by a series of webinars continuing into 2021.  These allowed relevant stakeholders to reflect on the past, present and future of the most comprehensive multilateral treaty on intellectual property protection and enforcement.

Source: wto.org