Multilateralism doesn’t solve – small countries get pushed out

Secondly, many of the existing bilateral, regional and multilateral intellectual property rules may make it difficult for these countries to cross over from one side of the intellectual property divide to the other. As we learn from those subscribing to the Realist tradition, countries are likely to push for rules and regimes that reflect their self-interests. Upon crossing over, these countries may become strong intellectual property powers that compete effectively against existing developed countries. At some point, the existing intellectual property powers, therefore, may express a preference for measures that prevent the emerging powers from reaching the crossover point, notwithstanding their concerns about the global piracy and counterfeiting problems. After all, if everything (including intellectual property standards) is the same, what would prevent multinational corporations from relocating their operations to countries that have drastically lower production, labour and distribution costs?