The eighth ministerial of the World Trade Organisation was on the surface an inconsequential meeting of an organisation fighting a descent into irrelevance. But there were attempts by the powerful economies to craft a plurilateral approach that would keep out the majority of WTO member countries.

The present study tries to explore the factors that influence the growth, performance, and development of IPR attitude of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector of Punjab. The aim of the present research is to examine the technology management strategies of manufacturing SMEs, primarily on the basis of use-based classification.

Actors at the local, national and global level, through their policies, institutional structure and processes, influence livelihood decisions irrespective of geographical setting. The introduction of intellectual property rights (IPR) under the WTO regime demonstrates how decisions taken at an international level affect millions of livelihoods across the globe. This has necessitated national governments to introduce new laws and legislation such as the enactment of Geographical Indications Act of India in 1999.

The very nature of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) poses serious challenges in patenting intellectual property. Unlike modern medicines, which are based on newly discovered, developed or isolated chemical compounds, TCM prescriptions typically consist of mixtures of well-known plant or animal extracts. Moreover, these recipes are public knowledge, having been recorded in ancient books, and are therefore ineligible for patents in areas where a compound's novelty is a prerequisite.

Countries protect their renewable energy equipment. Exporting nations see it as trade barrier. The world is witnessing an increase in trade disputes in the renewable energy sector. Countries are trying to strengthen their renewable energy base by preferring indigenous products over imports. This is an obvious dampener for countries with good renewable energy equipment manufacturing capabilities and advanced technology. They argue that such policy measures hinder free trade. Their complaints at the World Trade Organization (WTO) are piling up. India is the latest to be in the spotlight.

There is growing, but belated, concern that much of the developing world's supply of medicines—in particular, its supply of anti-infective drugs—is of poor quality. This constitutes a major public health problem because the high prevalence of poor quality drugs in developing countries results in avoidable morbidity, mortality, and drug resistance. Moreover, any efforts to improve public health by developing new medicines or by changing treatment policies will ultimately be pointless if the drugs patients actually take contain insufficient or incorrect ingredients.