The International Intellectual Property Law System: New Actors, New Institutions, New Sources

International intellectual property norms are now being developed by a wide range of institutions - some national, some international, and some that do not fit neatly into either category; by bodies designed to address intellectual property; by trade and other bodies; and by actors public, private, and indeterminate. This new wave of international norm creation not only augments a growing body of substantive norms but also raises difficult structural questions about the future development of the international intellectual property system. This essay, a lecture delivered to the Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law in 2004, is being reprinted as part of a symposium on “TRIPS after ten years.”