The impact of patent protection on US pharmaceutical exports to developing countries

This article provides evidence that patent protection can have a positive effect on trade, by analysing the impact of the implementation of intellectual property rights (IPR) in developing countries on the US exports of pharmaceutical products, following intense lobbying efforts from the US pharmaceutical industry to have the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement included in the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). A gravity model using panel data from 1995 to 2010 suggests that the implementation of minimum standards of patent protection has increased US exports of pharmaceuticals to 108 nonadvanced countries.