Editing Protectionism (section)

==== Intellectual property ====
{{Main article|TRIPS Agreement|Intellectual property}}
The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an [[international agreement|international legal agreement]] between all the member nations of the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO). It establishes minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of different forms of [[intellectual property]] (IP) as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations.<ref>See TRIPS Art. 1(3).</ref> TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the [[Uruguay Round]] of the [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]] (GATT){{efn|The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a [[treaty|legal agreement]] between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote [[international trade]] by reducing or eliminating [[trade barrier]]s such as [[tariffs]] or [[import quota|quotas]]. According to its preamble, its purpose was the "substantial reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and the elimination of preferences, on a reciprocal and mutually advantageous basis."}} between 1989 and 1990<ref>{{Cite book|title=The TRIPS Agreement: Negotiating History|last=Gervais|first=Daniel|publisher=Sweet & Maxwell|year=2012|location=London|pages=Part I}}</ref> and is administered by the WTO. Statements by the World Bank indicate that TRIPS has not led to a demonstrable acceleration of investment to low-income countries, though it may have done so for middle-income countries.<ref name="Xiong 2012b 155"/>

Critics argue that TRIPS limits the ability of governments to introduce competition for generic producers.<ref name="Trade, Doha">{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Newfarmer |title=Trade, Doha, and Development |publisher=The World Bank |edition=1st |year=2006 |page=292}}</ref> The TRIPS agreement allows the grant of compulsory licenses at a nation's discretion. TRIPS-plus conditions in the United States' FTAs with Australia, Jordan, Singapore and Vietnam have restricted the application of compulsory licenses to emergency situations, antitrust remedies, and cases of public non-commercial use.<ref name="Trade, Doha"/>