TRIPS Economics Abbreviation

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement is a comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property (IP) that became effective on January 1, 1995, as part of the agreement that established the World Trade Organization (WTO). It sets down minimum standards for many forms of IP regulation as applied to nationals of other WTO members. TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994.

TRIPS introduced intellectual property law into the international trading system for the first time and remains the most comprehensive international agreement on IP to date. It plays a central role in facilitating trade in knowledge and creativity, in resolving trade disputes over IP, and in ensuring WTO members the latitude to achieve their domestic policy objectives. The agreement is legal recognition of the significance of links between IP and trade and the need for a balanced IP system that takes into account the interests of rights holders and the public.