How Far Can Arbitration Practice as an Alternative Dispute Resolution within the WTO Go? A Perspective on Intellectual Property Disputes

Abstract

Arbitration has been recognized as an expedite procedure to facilitate the settlement of disputes at the WTO. Unlike to the prevalent use of arbitration as an effective alternative means to litigation in the private filed, the author argues that arbitration under Article 25 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Dispute Settlement, as practiced in the Copyright case, might in effect come closer to the normal dispute settlement procedure, rather than a substitution for it. In terms of analysis of procedural flexibility, remedy, protection for business confidential information and Secretariat supports, this paper concludes that it does not seem that Article 25 arbitration would have a bright future for the resolution of intellectual property disputes provided it exhibits no great differences with the normal dispute settlement procedure.

Keywords: WTO, arbitration, dispute settlement, intellectual property