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ACTA – analysis of an emerging IPR enforcement regime

Robertsson, Fredrik LU (2011) JURM01 20102
Department of Law
Abstract
The thesis scrutinizes and analyses ACTA, a recently finished international agreement on enforcement of intellectual property rights. The analysis is performed on both a micro and a macro level. On the micro level, the analysis concerns the substantive content and the incentives to enhance the protection on the level of individual provisions. The scope and the title of the agreement is dealt with separately. On the macro level the broader political incentives and the forms of the negotiations are analysed. Particular attention is devoted to the approach and the role of the EU within the negotiations.
On the macro level, the thesis identifies ACTA as a challenge to the existing regimes in the IPR field, partly by the mere creation of a new... (More)
The thesis scrutinizes and analyses ACTA, a recently finished international agreement on enforcement of intellectual property rights. The analysis is performed on both a micro and a macro level. On the micro level, the analysis concerns the substantive content and the incentives to enhance the protection on the level of individual provisions. The scope and the title of the agreement is dealt with separately. On the macro level the broader political incentives and the forms of the negotiations are analysed. Particular attention is devoted to the approach and the role of the EU within the negotiations.
On the macro level, the thesis identifies ACTA as a challenge to the existing regimes in the IPR field, partly by the mere creation of a new institution, and partly by the lack of transparency imbuing the negotiations. It is possible to envisage ACTA as a logical step in a longstanding process of reinforcement of the international IPR protection, implemented through multilateral and bilateral agreements, emanating from a growing frustration with the lack of progress within WIPO and WTO.
On the micro level, the thesis shows that the title of ACTA is misleading and that many of the enforcement provisions go further than existing IPR regimes (particularly in TRIPS), but that the content still is much less controversial today than in earlier stages of the negotiations, due to the fact that the EU and the US, being the strongest parties in the negotiations, have had disparate opinions on several issues.
Finally, the thesis outlines developments which may render the agreement to be less useful than the parties intended it to be, as well as ideas on how international agreements in the IPR field can be made easier to manage. The possibility to see ACTA as a start of a growing readiness to break international practice on law making, as a result of a number of failed negotiations in other fields, is specifically highlighted. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Uppsatsen granskar och analyserar ACTA, ett färskt internationellt avtal om verkställighet av immateriella rättigheter. Analysen sker ur både mikro- och makroperspektiv. På mikronivån avser analysen det materiella innehållet och incitamenten till förstärkningar på regelnivå. Avtalets räckvidd (scope) liksom titelns relevans diskuteras separat. På makroplanet analyseras de politiska incitamenten i bredare mening, samt formerna för avtalets förhandlingar. Särskild uppmärksamhet ägnas genomgående EU:s förhållningssätt och roll i förhandlingarna.
På makronivån identifierar uppsatsen ACTA som en utmaning för de befintliga institutionerna på området, dels genom själva skapandet av en ny institution genom regime shifting och dels genom den brist... (More)
Uppsatsen granskar och analyserar ACTA, ett färskt internationellt avtal om verkställighet av immateriella rättigheter. Analysen sker ur både mikro- och makroperspektiv. På mikronivån avser analysen det materiella innehållet och incitamenten till förstärkningar på regelnivå. Avtalets räckvidd (scope) liksom titelns relevans diskuteras separat. På makroplanet analyseras de politiska incitamenten i bredare mening, samt formerna för avtalets förhandlingar. Särskild uppmärksamhet ägnas genomgående EU:s förhållningssätt och roll i förhandlingarna.
På makronivån identifierar uppsatsen ACTA som en utmaning för de befintliga institutionerna på området, dels genom själva skapandet av en ny institution genom regime shifting och dels genom den brist på transparens som genomsyrat förhandlingarna. Det är möjligt att se ACTA som ett logiskt steg i en sedan länge pågående förstärkning av det internationella immaterialrättsskyddet genom multilaterala och bilaterala avtal, och en ökad frustration med den, ur i-ländernas perspektiv, bristande utvecklingen inom ramen för WIPO och WTO.
På mikronivån visar uppsatsen att titeln är vilseledande och att reglerna i avtalet ofta går längre än befintliga avtal på samma område (framför allt TRIPS-avtalet) men att innehållet samtidigt har blivit avsevärt mindre kontroversiellt än på tidigare stadier av förhandlingarna på grund av att USA och EU, de starkaste parterna i förhandlingarna, haft motsatta uppfattningar på flera punkter.
Avslutningsvis skisseras tänkbara utvecklingar som kan göra avtalet mindre användbart än parterna avsett, samt förslag på hur internationella avtal på det aktuella området kan göras enklare att hantera. Möjligheten att se ACTA-förhandlingarna som starten på en ökande tendens av brott mot internationell lagstiftningspraxis och som ett resultat av ett flertal misslyckande förhandlingar av globala avtal på andra områden, ägnas särskilt utrymme. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Robertsson, Fredrik LU
supervisor
organization
course
JURM01 20102
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
plurilateral, multilateral, international trade agreement, ACTA, enforcement of intellectual property rights, transparency, regime shifting, forum shifting, anti-counterfeiting trade agreement
language
English
id
1858212
date added to LUP
2011-04-14 14:24:43
date last changed
2011-04-14 14:24:43
@misc{1858212,
  abstract     = {{The thesis scrutinizes and analyses ACTA, a recently finished international agreement on enforcement of intellectual property rights. The analysis is performed on both a micro and a macro level. On the micro level, the analysis concerns the substantive content and the incentives to enhance the protection on the level of individual provisions. The scope and the title of the agreement is dealt with separately. On the macro level the broader political incentives and the forms of the negotiations are analysed. Particular attention is devoted to the approach and the role of the EU within the negotiations.
On the macro level, the thesis identifies ACTA as a challenge to the existing regimes in the IPR field, partly by the mere creation of a new institution, and partly by the lack of transparency imbuing the negotiations. It is possible to envisage ACTA as a logical step in a longstanding process of reinforcement of the international IPR protection, implemented through multilateral and bilateral agreements, emanating from a growing frustration with the lack of progress within WIPO and WTO.
On the micro level, the thesis shows that the title of ACTA is misleading and that many of the enforcement provisions go further than existing IPR regimes (particularly in TRIPS), but that the content still is much less controversial today than in earlier stages of the negotiations, due to the fact that the EU and the US, being the strongest parties in the negotiations, have had disparate opinions on several issues.
Finally, the thesis outlines developments which may render the agreement to be less useful than the parties intended it to be, as well as ideas on how international agreements in the IPR field can be made easier to manage. The possibility to see ACTA as a start of a growing readiness to break international practice on law making, as a result of a number of failed negotiations in other fields, is specifically highlighted.}},
  author       = {{Robertsson, Fredrik}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{ACTA – analysis of an emerging IPR enforcement regime}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}