In the 1980s neo-liberal policy advocating Hayek’s market economy began to replace fifty years of Keynesian economics.  The globalization of financial markets and belief in free trade promoted by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher led to the reduction of state power and the rise of transnational corporate control of global markets.  Deregulation of finance and trade by governments and the privatization of many public institutions shifted power away from the foundation of  democratic society – the people, to a small group of corporate shareholders who now control much of the world’s wealth.  Corporations have only one purpose which is to increase their profits for the shareholders.  They have little allegiance to, or concern for, the common good, the poor and dispossessed, or the environment

One important way that corporations protect their profits is through international property rights legislation.  There is a long history of businesses bringing pressure to bear upon governments to draft IPR legislation.  During the thirty year neo-liberal era from 1978 to 2008, corporations enjoyed unprecedented support from government.  At the request of these transnational firms, the US put pressure on developing countries to adopt and enforce international property policies which were aimed at preventing piracy of inventions and innovations and the loss of billions of dollars in trade.

In 1986, during this neo-liberal era a US-based Intellectual Property Rights Committee was established, composed of the CEOs from pharmaceutical, entertainment, and software industries.  (Bristol-Meyers, CBS, DuPont, GE, GM, HP, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Monsanto, and Phizer).  They were interested the creation and enforcement of a new global IPR accord aimed at protecting their global trade empires.  Because of their immense wealth and power they were able to identify the problem, devise a solution, draft a concrete proposal and present it to the highest levels of government.  One early measure was achieving amendments to the US. Trade and Tariff Act.  This prompted other corporate groups in Europe and Japan to follow suit.

In 1988 their proposal was presented to the GATT Secretariat for consideration and by 1994 the IPC had achieved its goal when the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) was ratified at the Uruguay trade round of the WTO.  GATT succeeded in reducing external barriers to free trade by cutting tariffs and reducing border impediments while TRIPS focuses on internal barriers to free trade, specifically IPRs.