Evaluation of Egypt's conformity with intellectual property standards in the U.S. free trade agreements
Abstract
Intellectual property rights have become an integral issue to international trade due to the pressure from developed countries. Developing countries are usually reluctant to adopt advanced measures of IPR protection because of their limited capacities. However, they have been pressured to accept the TRIPS Agreement as part of the WTO single undertaking. Nevertheless, developed countries are still dissatisfied with the multilateral level of IPR protection. Developed countries are thus pursuing free trade agreements that include IPR measures beyond the TRIPS, known as the TRIPS Plus. The U.S. FTAs are famous with their ambitious TRIPS Plus provisions. Those provisions raise fears in many developing countries about the effects of the TRIPS Plus trends. However, the U.S. has managed to enter into FTAs with many developing countries which are motivated by political and commercial benefits. Egypt has very special relations with the U.S. and thus the possibility of an FTA was examined informally by both countries. These FTA preparations were terminated for undisclosed political reasons. The probability of a sudden revival of the FTA preparations is omnipresent, thus it is precautionary for Egypt to examine its ability to conform to IPR standards in the U.S. FTAs apart from the pressure of negotiations. The Egyptian IPR Law is frequently criticized by many developed countries including the U.S. for non compliance with the TRIPS measures. This paper will study first Egypt's compliance with its international IPR obligations. Second, the paper will provide a legal comparison between the Egyptian Law and the U.S. FTAs, with a special focus on that of Morocco. Third, the paper will examine policy concerns that might hinder Egypt's prospects to join an FTA with the U.S.