Intellectual property

The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) obliges WTO members to guarantee a minimum level of protection for intellectual property rights such as copyright, trademarks and patents. To a large extent the TRIPS Agreement refers back to other international agreements in this area predating the WTO. However, this 'integration by reference' brings these pre-existing arrangements into the WTO system and gives them the same enforceability as other WTO obligations.