One size fits all fails
Peter K. Yu, The Global Intellectual Property Order and Its Undetermined Future, 1 WIPO J. 1 (Peter K. Yu eds., 2009). https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/651, accessed 6/10/24, mw
To be certain, a one-size-fits-all model—such as the one pushed by the TRIPS Agreement and the TRIPS-plus bilateral and regional trade agreements—is problematic. However, harmonisation is not entirely bad. Even if it would be highly impractical to have a multi-size model, there remains a serious and important question about what size the model should take. Should it be extra large, or should it be extra small?41 The fact that less-developed countries strongly oppose a super-size-fits-all model does not necessarily mean that these countries will always resist greater international harmonisation. After all, both the Paris and Berne Conventions began with a focus on setting up only ‘‘size S’’ minimum international standards which most of today’s less-developed countries are likely to find acceptable.