Which countries does the TRIPS applies to?

When analyzing the validity element of the three tier analysis that inspired the TRIPS PLUS ULTRA proposal (the other two elements are its justice and its effectiveness), we´ve said the TRIPS Agreement applies to most countries in the world. That it sets the universal standard. Up next you will find a quote from “A global solution for the protection of inventions” (pp. 48-49) that explains to which countries does the TRIPS Agreement applies to.

(Go back to the validity analysis for more on what the global regulation regarding patents looks like.)

“The TRIPS Agreement has become the umbrella under which universal intellectual property rules have been possible. The TRIPS Agreement is a worldwide-accepted agreement (Kresalja 2001, 202). It was developed and it is managed under the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the successor organization to the GATT Agreement, which had 128 member countries in 1994. Currently it has 159 member countries (by March 2, 2013) and twenty-five observer governments. (Countries/governments who are observers must start adhesion negotiations within five years after they obtain the observer status, with the exception of the Vatican.)

“The members—added to those expected to be members—could soon be 184 in total, and the agreement will cover practically all of humanity. The United Nations has 192 member countries (not counting the Vatican), which means that, even taking into account cases like that of Taiwan (not a member of the United Nations but a WTO member), more than 95 percent of the countries whose status has been recognized by the United Nations are present in the WTO. With regard to those countries that have not yet even joined as observers, actions to include them are being taken (as the case of Turkmenistan to quote one example).

“´One of the major changes involving the WTO in relation with the GATT is that all countries that want to become members and enjoy the resultant market access will have to accept all major WTO agreements, including the TRIPS Agreement´ (WTO Secretariat 1997, 387). This is implemented under the so-called conformity clause (article 16, paragraph 4 of the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization), through which the WTO membership is conditioned “to the protection of intellectual property in the terms contained in the TRIPS Agreement” (Kresalja 2001, 201). Thus, the claim that the rules of the TRIPS Agreement are governing all mankind (universality) is supported.”

Internal citations omitted.

You could also find a chart that shows how the TRIPS PLUS ULTRA implementation might look like (it is a donde taking on account GDP per capita from the decade from 2004 to 2013), in which all countries in the world are mentioned (if the regulation of the TRIPS Agreement does not apply to a country, this is noted at the end). And here you could find an explanation about the transition periods the TRIPS Agreement prescribed.