The Role of International NGOS in the Intellectual Property Policy-Making and Norm-Setting Activities of Multilateral Institutions

Having recently completed a research project on non-governmental organizations (“NGOs”), intellectual property rights, and multilateral institutions (“the IP-NGOs project”),1 I have a number of comments to make about the role of international NGOs in shaping the debate on intellectual property, trade, and development. Before setting out the main findings of the IP-NGOs project in terms of the role that international NGOs play in intellectual property policy-making and norm-setting activities, I will first set out some background. The IP-NGOs project looked at the role of NGOs in relation to two sets of issues: first, public health and access to essential medicines; and second, agriculture, genetic resources, and traditional knowledge. In the context of these two sets of issues, the research sought to identify patterns in recent activity by international NGOs in relation to intellectual property policy-making and norm-setting in the World Trade Organization (“WTO”)2; the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”)3; the