Peter K. Yu (Drake University Law School) has posted Intellectual Property and Human Rights in the Nonmultilateral Era (Florida Law Review, Vol. 64, 2012) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
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In the past decade, countries have actively pushed for the establishment of bilateral, plurilateral and regional trade and investment agreements. Of major concern are the adoption of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and the ongoing negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Although commentators have examined the conflict and tension between intellectual property and human rights in the past, the arrival of these agreements has ushered in a new era of nonmultilateralism that warrants a re-examination of the interrelationship between intellectual property and human rights.
This Article closely examines the human rights impact of the intellectual property provisions in TRIPS-plus nonmultilateral agreements. It begins by outlining the challenges inherent in any analysis of the interface between intellectual property and human rights. It then examines the relationship between TRIPS-plus nonmultilateral agreements and the human rights system. The article concludes with a discussion of the normative and systemic adjustments needed to alleviate the tension or conflict between these agreements and the international human rights system.