The Ideology of Intellectual Property Rights in the International Economy

Since the arrival of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 a number of side agreements have also been negotiated that seek further rationalization of the emerging global economy. Prominent among these is the agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS. Enforcement of the TRIPS agreement would involve the multilateral trade sanctions mechanism of the WTO. This paper examines justificatory arguments for the defense of intellectual property rights in the international economy. These arguments are based on the "classic" philosophic writings of Locke, Hegel, and Bentham. It is found that these well-known philosophic defenses for exclusive property rights do not hold up well when applied to intellectual property.