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Uniform Intellectual Property Law in the Globalized World Introduction Progress in human prosperity in the last many decades showed quite fast pace. Research and innovation contributed a lot in achieving this human prosperity. The new product that originates out of sheer effort of researcher is deemed to his ownership (intangible though) for which the term intellectual property is loosely applied. He is then entitled to get benefit from that property as a right. According to World Intellectual Property Organization intellectual property is referred to the creation of mind that includes inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbol, names, images and designed used in commerce. It is broadly divided into industrial property and copyrights. Since inventors/researchers are given exclusive rights in respect of their innovation/invention, the law also protects their rights to be called intellectual property law. The issue of protection of intellectual property within the national boundaries is not much complicated but it does have hindrances at international level. Since globalization affects economies of the nation states, the issue of intellectual property is no exception to this effect. History History teaches us that innovation can occur without any IP protection as all international intellectual property agreements have been in place since the nineteenth century. The first agreement in the late-1800s was multilateral; bilateral agreements began to emerge in 1959. The World Intellectual Property Organization was founded in 1970 with the mission of administering IP issues for the United Nations. The developed world eventually grew tired of WIPO and business interests articulated their desire for stronger investment and IPR protections. This became clear in the early-1980s, when senior executives of a large multinational American corporation conceived of creating a trade-based approach to intellectual property protection. Such an approach theoretically would protect investments made in the developing world. It would entail a comprehensive multilateral agreement with global IPR coverage. In 1994, TRIPS was born in response to such a vision. It came to be considered as the most ambitious international IP agreement in history; it brought together all WTO member nations to set a global baseline for minimum IPR protection standards. TRIPS meant different things to different

nations. It was welcomed by developing nations because they believed it would establish a permanent and comprehensive IPR baseline. They did not think that any other bilateral agreement would be required in the future after the emergence of TRIPs that would supersede the latter. Developed nations, on the other hand, envisioned TRIPS as a minimum-standards agreement, with the expectation that later ad hoc agreements would remedy the one-size-fits-all problems of TRIPS. After all, the constituencies present at the Uruguay Round meetings were remarkably included that it set low minimum standards for the various WIPO conventions. Thus the conflict of interest between the developed and developing nation did not diminish. Neither is this tension between developed and developing countries a new. The Paris Convention of 1883 is the world's oldest IP treaty. The signatories to the Paris Convention were essentially industrialized European countries. At that time, developing nations had little interest in agreeing to an international IP agreement. Later, when WIPO was negotiated in the 1960s, developing countries played a larger role, but continued to oppose higher IP standards. Importantly, international investment agreement fora have constantly changed for more than a century-from Paris and Berne43 in 1883 and 1886, to WIPO in 1967, to WTO/TRIPS in 1994, and now to BIT In sum, the history of international IPR protection has been profoundly influenced by power struggles between developed and developing nations which in turn have fueled a periodic rewriting of the rules of the game. Objective There exist distinct legal provisions in each nation state for the protection and regulation of intellectual property rights. And at the international scenario, mostly bilateral and multilateral agreements are eschewed. Real conflict of issues stirs up when such bilateral treaty is concluded between developing and developed nations when the latter consents their capital investment on the fulfillment of intellectual property rules. The dominant nation usually will want high intellectual property protections, while the weaker nation usually will desire the opposite. Developing nation sometimes need foreign investment for which she has to admit developed nations conditions including intellectual property rights. Many bilateral investment treaties were penned in the last decades. Trade-Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights is the multilateral effort wherein both developed and developing nations reached on some foundations.

But those were incomprehensive since many bilateral treaties were still inked between nation states. Beside that developing nations are still in violations of treaties that results in diminishing mutual confidence between international players; recent US win again China is an example for such violation. My study would focus on looking such uniform standards that, instead of providing level playing fields, could be acceptable not only to developed and developing nations but also to the underdeveloped countries. Which minimum standard can be evolved and how can all the international players be convinced on these standards, would be the ultimate goal served by my research. How can the violating nations be persuaded to respect intellectual property rights and what sorts of penalties are useful in case of violations. How can the debate in EU for Uniform Patent Legal System be channelized toward a globalized one where all nations can come to a mutual agreement.

Methodology The study would concentrate on finding out the real issues lying behind the violations of lPRs. Analysis from the data of violator countries would help me understand causes of such effects. Beside different research and surveys conducted by WlPO and other international agencies, contact with holders of such rights and their reservations would be fruitful in the study. Moreover the critics of the existence of intellectual property rights would also be consulted in order to broaden the scope of the issue. Dissemination of the work The research could be disseminated through various means so that related persons could get benefit from it. Most effective means would be the holding of joint seminars at national, regional and global level to disperse the search to all the nations in order to get their consensus. Such seminar may be attended by parliamentarians, technocrats as well as businessmen. Print and electronic media can also prove quite helpful in spreading the work. More liberalization of economic laws result in more capital outflow and that flow could be utilized in the recipient state if some standards are complied by this nation. Intellectual property rules cannot be ignored in those standards. If nations agree on these uniform standards, it could bring positive impact to all developed and developing countries.