This timely book provides a comprehensive survey of recent development in intellectual property (IP) law within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, written by experienced scholars and practitioners in the field. Divided into three insightful parts, the book looks into recent IP developments in individual countries, examining the relationship of ASEAN as a group with the wider region in IP matters, as well as providing comparative studies of copyright infringements, IP in agriculture, IP enforcement, and pharmaceutical patenting in the ASEAN countries. Chapters investigate further pressing topics such as IP related to the innovation economy, covering all countries of ASEAN, recently concluded bi- and multilateral agreements and ASEAN IP negotiations with China and other trading partners. Providing regional and international analysis of ASEAN IP law across multiple sectors, this book will prove a valuable resource for IP practitioners, legal academics and law students concerned with Asian IP law and innovation. Students interested in the intersection between IP law, economy and society, from disciplines such as economics, business and political science, will also benefit from this detailed read.

Among the important elements of the problem (and its potential solutions) discussed in this book are the following:
- the strong influence of legal culture in the different Asian countries;
- the limits of IP harmonisation in Europe;
- the importance of understanding the political and cultural perceptions that prevail in the various Asian countries;
- the non-uniform approach of different Asian countries due in part to bilateral free trade agreements; and
- the experience of patent office cooperation and its potential as a model for smaller countries.

The TRIPS Agreement (for trade-related intellectual property rights) provides for the general protection of geographical indications (GIs) of product origin, including for example the special protection of wines and spirits and for the creation of a multilateral register for wines. The African Group of countries has been in the forefront of countries agitating in the World Trade Organization TRIPS Council for the extension of this special protection and of the multilateral register to industries which are of interest to developing countries, primarily agriculture. The so-called "extension question" is the central feature of the Doha Development Agenda at both the WTO and World Intellectual Property Organization. This book provides some empirical evidence and applied legal and economic reasoning to this debate. It provides both a general review of the key issues and a series of case studies from six Anglophone and four Francophone countries in Africa. These focus on major agricultural commodities such as coffee, cotton, cocoa and tea, as well as more specific and local products such as Argan oil and Oku white honey.

The TRIPS Agreement (for trade-related intellectual property rights) provides for the general protection of geographical indications (GIs) of product origin, including for example the special protection of wines and spirits and for the creation of a multilateral register for wines. The African Group of countries has been in the forefront of countries agitating in the World Trade Organization TRIPS Council for the extension of this special protection and of the multilateral register to industries which are of interest to developing countries, primarily agriculture. The so-called "extension question" is the central feature of the Doha Development Agenda at both the WTO and World Intellectual Property Organization. This book provides some empirical evidence and applied legal and economic reasoning to this debate. It provides both a general review of the key issues and a series of case studies from six Anglophone and four Francophone countries in Africa. These focus on major agricultural commodities such as coffee, cotton, cocoa and tea, as well as more specific and local products such as Argan oil and Oku white honey.