Over the past five years, 10 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United States containing extensive chapters of provisions on intellectual property rights. The aim is to boost the protection of intellectual property rights, and, in some respects, the provisions in the FTAs go beyond the scope of those set forth in the 1994 WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

The obligations assumed under the FTAs are to be implemented over the next five years, which gives rise to several possible scenarios. One such scenario is that a rigid or inappropriate enforcement of intellectual property obligations set out in the agreements could lead to the overprotection of intellectual property rights. This could diminish the availability of generic medicines and the general population's access to knowledge and culture. It could conceivably reduce the incentives for innovation in the region, as well.

Another possible scenario, however, is that the 10 Latin American countries in question implement the agreements judiciously and take advantage of all the flexibility afforded by FTAs and multilateral agreements (including TRIPS) to create a suitable regulatory framework for intellectual property rights that helps to strike a balance between the need for incentives for innovation and creation, on the one hand, and the need for access to knowledge and culture, on the other. Achieving this balance would not only further the diffusion of new technologies, but also create a climate that is conducive to the development of Latin America's capacity for innovation.

This second scenario is feasible thanks to the "incomplete" nature of the chapters on intellectual property rights in these FTAs. The provisions they contain impose numerous obligations but remain notably silent or ambiguous regarding a number of matters that will therefore have to be resolved by each country's national laws, rules and regulations. Countries are in fact free to develop a complementary set of public policies on innovation, fair competition, consumer rights, health and education that can significantly influence the true scope and impact of intellectual property regulations.

Merely studying the texts of the negotiated FTAs is not enough to fully comprehend their scope: the economic implications of the various types of intellectual property and the dynamics of FTA negotiations and their ongoing implementation need to be understood as well. This book explores both of these aspects and analyses the possible repercussions of such agreements on technological innovation, agriculture, the digital economy and the pharmaceutical sector. The process would seem to entail significant risks and challenges, but new opportunities are being opened up as well. In short, the consequences are by no means a foregone conclusion. They will largely depend on the legislation that countries adopt to implement FTAs, their public policies, market dynamics and business strategies.

The book ends with a series of recommendations on how to manage intellectual property rights in such a way as to simultaneously stimulate innovation and creation, broaden the transfer of knowledge and maximize the social diffusion of the corresponding benefits. The recommendations refer not only to the legislation and regulation of intellectual property rights, but also to complementary agendas to be pursued in the areas of health, competition, consumer rights, and policies on science, technology and innovation.

The countries of the region need to pursue intellectual property policies that facilitate the creation of a new intellectual property system for the twenty-first century, one that will help the region to achieve its goals in terms of growth, equity and democracy. The challenge consists of striking a new type of balance between the protection of intellectual property rights and social interests, and between the need for private control over and public access to knowledge and information. This examination of post-FTA challenges is therefore of interest both to Latin American and Caribbean policymakers and to researchers and analysts of the region's economic development.