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Abstract

For several years, research at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual
Property and Competition Law (MPI) - in collaboration with experts from all over
the world - has examined the trend of bilateral and regional agreements that
include provisions on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP)
rights. By building on this research, the following principles
– express core concerns regarding the use of IP provisions as a bargaining chip in
international trade negotiations, the increasing comprehensiveness of international IP
rules and the lack of transparency and inclusiveness in the negotiating process; and
– recommend international rules and procedures that can achieve a better,
mutually advantageous and balanced regulation of international IP.
These principles emanate from several consultations within the MPI and especially
from a workshop that was held with external experts in October 2012 in Munich,
Germany. They represent the views of those first signatories and are open to
signature by scholars who share the objectives of the Principles.