US Trade Policy and Intellectual Property Law: Pharmaceuticals, Patents, and Trade

Michael K. McDonald, University of Maryland - College Park

Abstract

This paper examines the debate over intellectual property protection for pharmaceuticals and access to medicines from the perspective of US trade policymaking. In the last two years, US trade policy has shifted from a continual ratcheting up of intellectual property protections to a more balanced view of IP rights as both necessary for innovation and a barrier to access. I examine this shift in policy through a discussion of the May 2007 compromise between the Bush administration and Congress and an examination of US response to compulsory licenses for pharmaceuticals issues by the government of Thailand in 2007 and 2008. Given the response of the Bush administration and early indications from the Obama administration, I conclude that the May 2007 compromise represents a mere shift in political power and not a meaningful shift in US trade and IPR priorities.