Download This PaperAre Foreigners Treated Equally Under TRIPS?
23 Pages Posted: 12 Aug 2019
Date Written: August 2019
Abstract
The TRIPS Agreement, administered by the World Trade Organisation, ensures the smooth functioning of the international patent system. It promises among others that local and foreign firms are treated in the same, non-discriminatory manner. We test for whether national treatment has been upheld in the five largest patent offices and document the existence of a systematic bias against foreign firms in patent examination decisions. We find that filing international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty can reduce some of the bias.
Keywords: discrimination, global patent system, national treatment
JEL Classification: O34, F13, F23, K2, K4
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Paul H. Jensen
University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research ( email )
Level 5, FBE Building, 111 Barry Street
Parkville, Victoria 3010
Australia
T'Mir Julius
University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research ( email )
Level 5, FBE Building, 111 Barry Street
Parkville, Victoria 3010
Australia
Centre for Transformative Innovation, Faculty of Business and Law, Swinburne University of Technology ( email )
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Room 117
Hawthorne, Victoria 3121
Australia
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University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research ( email )
Level 5, FBE Building, 111 Barry Street
Parkville, Victoria 3010
Australia