Host Countries’ Right To Regulate Intellectual Property In The Context Of International Investment Law

Intellectual property rights have territoriality,and host countries have the power to autonomously regulate its own intellectual property policies and measures.TRIPS has incorporated the protection of intellectual property rights into the international trade system which sets minimum protection standards,thus imposes certain restrictions on the host countries’ regulation of intellectual property rights.With the continuous development and increasing attention to the knowledge economy,intellectual property rights have become an important object of international investment and their protection is increasingly expanding from the international trade to the international investment field.Many countries have begun to promote higher intellectual property protection standards through bilateral and regional agreements,further limiting the host countries’ regulation of intellectual property rights.More importantly,the dispute resolution mechanisms attached to these rules will allow private investors in intellectual property rights to directly challenge the host countries’ regulation of intellectual property rights.It is certain that intellectual property rights are constantly entering the field of international investment,and this trend may profoundly affect the traditional system of international investment rules,thus bringing many new legal issues.Firstly,intellectual property rights are not the main concern of traditional international investment agreements.The definition of investment in intellectual property rights and the regulations of the host countries’ intellectual property protection obligations are not sufficiently complete and clear in international investment agreements.Secondly,in international investment arbitration practice,the interpretation of the host countries’ intellectual property protection obligations by the arbitration tribunal also tends to favor investors,causing the host countries to bear excessively high or even unjust intellectual property protection obligations,further limiting the host countries’ regulation of intellectual property rights.International investment agreements are not only the main tool for establishing new international investment rules but also an important path for countries to bypass the multilateral system and establish rules on intellectual property protection.For the host countries,a more cautious attitude is needed in international investment agreement negotiations to maintain its own regulation of intellectual property rights and sovereignty,as well as balance the interests of private investors with those of national public interests.