Exhausting Intellectual Property Rights

"Even as globalization seems to be in retreat in political circles, the march of commercialization and markets continues. Government policies, whether tariffs, exits, or walls, cannot impede the competitive drive to meet consumer demand for products and services, whether within national boundaries or across them. The World Trade Organization, and the attendant Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects to Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, speak to the push for open markets supported by uniform intellectual property laws. Against this dynamic is the push-back from nation states and regional agreements that adapt treaty obligations to the needs of local economic development"--