Worth watching: Efforts in Canada (by Eli Lilly), in Australia (by Philip Morris), and elsewhere to characterize intellectual property rights as investments owed protection from government interference, under international trade law.
I haven’t yet seen a good, scholarly review of the issue from a investment law standpoint (pointers welcome). Some helpful blog posts include:
- The Fate of Plain Packaging after the Australian High Court’s Judgment
- Investor-State Arbitration to Challenge Host State Compliance with International IP Treaties?
Updated (March 2):
- Thanks to a pointer from Peter Yu, see:
Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Intellectual Property Rights in International Investment Agreements, by Bryan Mercurio