This book focusses on the debates concerning aspects of intellectual property law that bear on access to medicines in a set of developing countries. Specifically, the contributors look at measures that regulate the acquisition, recognition, and use of patent rights on pharmaceuticals and trade secrets in data concerning them, along with the conditions under which these rights expire so as to permit the production of cheaper generic drugs. In addition, the book includes commentary from scholars in human rights, international institutions, and transnational activism.

The book:
· Offers an interdisciplinary approach combining insight from legal scholarship and the social sciences to provide empirically-grounded discussion of relevant national and international regulations and litigation

· Analyzes the interface of international law and domestic policy, critiquing the role of human rights and international IP law

· Features 11 case studies from Latin America, providing detailed empirical information about each country