Trade policy and intellectual property protection: the north-south dispute

News about foreign-made counterfeit products that range from pharmaceuticals to tennis shoes and about processes that have been copied without payment of royalties to patent holders has become commonplace. Many of these appropriations of intellectual property originate in developing countries, where intellectual property laws and enforcement have traditionally been less restrictive than in developed countries. These differences between the North-the developed countries that produce most intellectual property-and the South-the developing countries that consume more than they produce-have generated much international friction. ; Recently, however, some developing countries have begun to tighten these laws and their enforcement. A few analysts have been quick to explain why: these countries are simply reacting to increasingly tough U.S. pressure. But are they? Not all countries under the most intense U.S. pressure have reacted to it, and there is a difference between those that have and those that have not. The difference turns out to be these individual countries' own trade policies. ; Focusing primarily on the experiences of Latin American countries, William C. Gruben shows how and why a nation's own trade policy influences its intellectual property laws and enforcement and why conventional arguments about U.S. trade pressures may be only part of the story. Gruben shows why developing countries that practice strong trade protectionism are motivated toward weak intellectual property protection, but those that have liberalized trade may find strong intellectual property protection more attractive.