Book excerpt: The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to a large extent incorporates and/or supersedes all previous international conventions on intellectual property rights. It provides, therefore, for a general and mandatory framework worldwide for the protection and enforcement of those rights. For this reason, the TRIPS Agreement has a direct impact on the daily life of corporations, governments and consumers.This book with the authoritative stamp of an experienced international functionary in the field--formerly with the WTO and currently with the Secretariat of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)-- contains a very practical explanation of the meaning of the patent-related TRIPS provisions, of how they should be reflected in national law and how courts are expected to enforce them.Among the complex questions the book answers in depth are the following:How do the Paris Convention and the TRIPS Agreement interact?What is the relationship between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the TRIPS Agreement?Can a WTO Member require the disclosure of the origin of genetic resources in patent applications as a condition of patentability? Was the Decision of the WTO General Council of August 30, 2003, on the implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health really necessary? How can developing countries implement that Decision?What are the obligations of WTO Members as regards the protection of test data under Article 39.3?For these reasons and more, the second edition of The TRIPS Regime of Patent Rights is a crucially important resource for lawyers interested in compliance and government officials charged with the implementation of TRIPS obligations.