The TRIPS agreement : ready or not, Maldives went for it

Abstract

This article provides an overview of how the TRIPS Agreement came into being, and uses this as a background context to the Maldives’ membership of the WTO, by which Maldives also became a contracting party to the Agreement. The objective of the article is to shed light on the readiness of Maldives for the obligations that the Agreement creates and to what extent the country has been able to meet those obligations thus far. The article is largely based on the review and analyses of literature, discussions, and the author’s own involvement in the process of the Maldives’ membership of the WTO. The article finds that Maldives is encountering daunting challenges in implementing the Agreement.