Lecture by Angelina Godoy, Helen H. Jackson Chair inHuman Rights and Director, Center for Human Rights, University of Washington Abstract: In recent years, the application of intellectual property (IP) to pharmaceutical products has generated increasing controversy in many contexts around the world. Like other parts of Latin America, Central American countries were required to introduce reforms to their IP laws under the terms of the WTO's TRIPS Agreement, and later by the ratification of their trade agreement with the United States, which required yet stricter provisions.