BBA 320 WTO and Intellectual Property Rights Notes cover all four units of this GGSIPU BBA Semester 6 elective in 59 pages, from GATT and the WTO to international IP treaties. They include 12 case studies, 34 solved short answers, 35 long-answer questions and 42 MCQs, mapped to the revised BBA scheme for batches from 2024-25.
Written by Prateek Talwar, Founder, Unnati Educations · Reviewed by Sheetal Kirola, Academic Head, M.Ed. · Checked against GGSIPU BBA Scheme and Syllabus (NEP based, revised) w.e.f. 2024-25 · Updated 14 October 2026 · Editorial policy
Scheme: BBA (NEP based, revised) w.e.f. 2024-25 | Applies to: batches admitted from 2024-25 | Verified against: BBAwef2024_25_200125.pdf (w.e.f. 2024-25)
BBA 320 WTO and Intellectual Property Rights at a glance: GGSIPU BBA Sem 6 credits, units and exam pattern
BBA 320 is one of two International Business electives in Semester 6, next to BBA 318 Global Competitiveness, among the other GGSIPU BBA Semester 6 papers.
| Code and title | BBA 320: WTO and Intellectual Property Rights |
|---|---|
| Category and credits | Elective (Major or Minor, by the student's scheme) · 4 credits · L-4, T-0 |
| Marks | 100: 40 internal (class test 15 + activities 25) + 60 end-term |
| End-term pattern | 60 marks; paper-setter instructions not printed in the official PDF |
| Units and lecture hours | 4 units: 15 + 14 + 14 + 16 = 59 hours |
| Paired lab | None (theory only) |
These GGSIPU BBA Semester 6 WTO and IPR notes suit students who want trade law over BBA 318's strategy focus. Pass rules follow GGSIPU Ordinance 11.
BBA 320 WTO and Intellectual Property Rights Notes unit-wise: 34 solved short answers and 12 case studies across 4 units
These BBA 320 WTO and IPR IPU notes follow the official unit order, with an exam corner closing each unit; one page per unit is in the sample PDF above. Other papers: GGSIPU BBA notes.
BBA 320 Unit 1: GATT and Evolution of World Trade Organization (WTO)
From Bretton Woods (1944) through GATT's eight rounds to the WTO's start on 1 January 1995, then the WTO's functions and principles, trade facilitation, the social clause, India's experience and the global business environment.
Pages 3-15 · 9 sections · 8 short answers, 9 long questions, 10 MCQs · 1 case study, 5 figures
| Basis | GATT | WTO |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Provisional agreement | Permanent organisation |
| Scope | Goods only | Goods, services, IPR, investment |
| Disputes | Reports could be blocked | "Negative consensus" adoption |
| Commitments | Many codes optional | Single undertaking |
Quick look: GATT vs WTO (from page 6)
- Basis
- Nature
- GATT
- Provisional agreement
- WTO
- Permanent organisation
- Basis
- Scope
- GATT
- Goods only
- WTO
- Goods, services, IPR, investment
- Basis
- Disputes
- GATT
- Reports could be blocked
- WTO
- "Negative consensus" adoption
- Basis
- Commitments
- GATT
- Many codes optional
- WTO
- Single undertaking
BBA 320 Unit 2: General Introduction in the Intellectual Property Law
Also covered as "General Introduction to Intellectual Property Law". IP defined, its characteristics, and its history from the 1474 Venetian statute to India's 2005 patent amendment. Section 2.4 takes twelve heads of industrial property, from inventions to emblems, before discoveries and neighbouring rights.
Pages 16-29 · 6 sections · 9 short answers, 9 long questions, 10 MCQs · 4 case studies, 5 figures
| Basis | Patent | Know-how |
|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Public | Kept secret |
| Duration | 20 years | While secrecy lasts |
| Registration | Required, with fees | Not needed |
| Reverse engineering | Still protected | No protection |
Quick look: patent vs know-how (from page 22)
- Basis
- Disclosure
- Patent
- Public
- Know-how
- Kept secret
- Basis
- Duration
- Patent
- 20 years
- Know-how
- While secrecy lasts
- Basis
- Registration
- Patent
- Required, with fees
- Know-how
- Not needed
- Basis
- Reverse engineering
- Patent
- Still protected
- Know-how
- No protection
BBA 320 Unit 3: IPR and Economic Development
What IPR does for R&D, FDI and exports against its cost to developing countries. Then copyright under the Copyright Act, 1957, unfair competition, the features and legal nature of IPR, its place in India's legal system, and international IP bodies.
Pages 30-41 · 7 sections · 8 short answers, 8 long questions, 10 MCQs · 5 case studies, 5 figures
| Basis | IP law | Unfair competition |
|---|---|---|
| Protection | Specific exclusive right | Honest trade in general |
| Registration | Mostly required | Not required |
| Duration | Fixed term | While the unfair act lasts |
| Example | Patent infringement | Passing off |
Quick look: IP law vs unfair competition law (from page 35)
- Basis
- Protection
- IP law
- Specific exclusive right
- Unfair competition
- Honest trade in general
- Basis
- Registration
- IP law
- Mostly required
- Unfair competition
- Not required
- Basis
- Duration
- IP law
- Fixed term
- Unfair competition
- While the unfair act lasts
- Basis
- Example
- IP law
- Patent infringement
- Unfair competition
- Passing off
BBA 320 Unit 4: International Protection of Intellectual Property
The longest unit: WIPO's functions and organs, TRIPS with its public-health flexibilities, TRIMS, then ten treaties from Paris and PCT to Berne, Rome and Geneva, each with India's membership status, ending in a summary table.
Pages 42-59 · 15 sections · 9 short answers, 9 long questions, 12 MCQs · 2 case studies, 3 examples, 5 figures
| Basis | TRIPS | TRIMS |
|---|---|---|
| WTO annex | 1C | 1A (goods) |
| Nature | Positive: give minimum protection | Negative: avoid certain measures |
| India's change | Patent amendments, 1999-2005 | Auto-sector indigenisation rules removed |
Quick look: TRIPS vs TRIMS (from page 48)
- Basis
- WTO annex
- TRIPS
- 1C
- TRIMS
- 1A (goods)
- Basis
- Nature
- TRIPS
- Positive: give minimum protection
- TRIMS
- Negative: avoid certain measures
- Basis
- India's change
- TRIPS
- Patent amendments, 1999-2005
- TRIMS
- Auto-sector indigenisation rules removed
Trade and environment in WTO rules: excerpt from page 9 of the BBA 320 notes
Excerpt from page 9
Where trade and environment meet
The WTO has no stand-alone environment agreement. Its Preamble does name sustainable development as a goal, and several WTO rules carry environmental protection inside them.
- GATT Article XX (b) and (g): a member may restrict trade to protect human, animal or plant life or health, or to conserve exhaustible natural resources, provided the measure is not arbitrary discrimination or disguised protectionism.
- Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE): set up in 1995.
- SPS and TBT Agreements: allow health and technical standards, as long as they rest on science.
- Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (MC12, 2022): bans subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and for fishing overfished stocks.
- Open debates: carbon border taxes such as the EU's CBAM, green subsidies, plastics and environmental goods.
Case study: US Shrimp-Turtle (1998)
The USA banned shrimp imports from India, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand because the shrimp were caught without turtle excluder devices. The Appellate Body accepted that protecting sea turtles is a legitimate aim under Article XX(g), but held that the US had applied its ban in a discriminatory way. The lesson: an environment-based trade measure is allowed only when it is applied fairly to all.
Investment under WTO rules
- The TRIMs Agreement bars investment conditions that distort trade in goods, such as local-content and trade-balancing requirements (taken up in detail in Unit IV under CO4).
- GATS Mode 3, commercial presence, covers foreign investment in services such as banks and insurance companies.
- A full multilateral investment agreement, one of the "Singapore issues", was dropped in 2004.
How the WTO agreements are grouped
Page 9 also completes the annex map of the Marrakesh Agreement: Annex 1C is TRIPS, Annex 2 the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), Annex 3 the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) and Annex 4 the plurilateral agreements, such as the Government Procurement Agreement, which bind only the members that sign them.
A five-row table then sorts the WTO's work into pillars: goods (GATT 1994 and 12 related agreements), services (GATS, with four modes of supply), intellectual property (TRIPS), disputes (DSU: panels, Appellate Body, retaliation) and policy review (TPRM: a periodic review of every member's trade policy).
How to write BBA 320 answers: treaty comparisons, case-backed long answers and sector-wise India questions
BBA 320 answers are theory, so marks come from structure and exact facts: years, article and section numbers, and one case per argument. The notes add four Exam Tip boxes, three Remember boxes and a Key Points box per unit.
- Open with one exact line. Page 6: "GATT is an agreement; WTO is an organisation." Page 36 gives the legal nature of IPR in one line: intangible, movable, private, territorial and time-bound, with a negative right to exclude others.
- Answer "differentiate" questions in a table: GATT vs WTO, patent vs utility model, WIPO vs WTO, Madrid Agreement vs Protocol, Rome vs Geneva.
- Back each argument with a case: Novartis (2013) for Section 3(d), Natco v. Bayer (2012) for compulsory licensing, India Solar Cells (2016) for TRIMs.
- Watch the numbers students mix up: Berne's minimum is life + 50 years but India gives life + 60 (page 54); Paris priority is 12 months for patents, 6 for marks and designs.
Worked example: "Discuss the impact of the WTO on the Indian economy" (10-15 marks)
The page 12 tip asks for one positive and one negative point per sector:
- Introduction: India signed GATT in 1947 as one of 23 founders and is a founding WTO member (1995).
- Agriculture: MSP and food stock-holding defended, with a Bali "peace clause" (2013); but rich nations' farm subsidies distort prices.
- Industry: the Multi-Fibre Arrangement's end (2005) helped garment exports; but quotas on about 1,400 items went by 2001, exposing small units to imports.
- IPR: new GI, plant variety and chip layout laws; but product patents raise medicine and seed prices.
- Investment: FDI and services trade grew; but local-content conditions had to go (India Autos 2002, Solar Cells 2016).
- Conclusion: rule-based trade gains against lost policy space.
Practise this format on GGSIPU BBA important questions.
BBA 320 exam corner: 34 solved short answers, 35 long-answer questions and 42 MCQs by unit
Long answer questions (10-15 marks) are listed without model answers; short answers (2-5 marks) are solved.
| Unit | Short (2-5 marks), solved | Long (10-15 marks) | MCQs | Case studies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 1 |
| 2 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 4 |
| 3 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 5 |
| 4 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 2 |
BBA 320 exam corner count by unit
- Unit
- 1
- Short (2-5 marks), solved
- 8
- Long (10-15 marks)
- 9
- MCQs
- 10
- Case studies
- 1
- Unit
- 2
- Short (2-5 marks), solved
- 9
- Long (10-15 marks)
- 9
- MCQs
- 10
- Case studies
- 4
- Unit
- 3
- Short (2-5 marks), solved
- 8
- Long (10-15 marks)
- 8
- MCQs
- 10
- Case studies
- 5
- Unit
- 4
- Short (2-5 marks), solved
- 9
- Long (10-15 marks)
- 9
- MCQs
- 12
- Case studies
- 2
- Unit 1: What are the "Singapore Issues"? Four 1996 issues; only trade facilitation became an agreement (2017).
- Unit 2: Why are scientific discoveries not patentable? They find what exists in nature; Patents Act Section 3(c) excludes them.
- Unit 3: Why is IPR called a negative right? It gives a right to stop others, not a right to use.
- Unit 4: What is "central attack" under the Madrid System? For five years the international registration depends on the home mark.
The BBA 320 notes solve 34 short-answer questions and set 35 long-answer questions across 4 units, plus 42 MCQs.
These are exam-style questions (no year tags). More in the BBA 320 important questions.
BBA 320 and the GGSIPU BBA Sem 6 papers it connects to
No paired lab: BBA 320 is theory only; see the GGSIPU BBA syllabus page.
Core Sem 6 papers: BBA 302 Business Policy and Strategy, BBA 304 Digital & Social Media Marketing.
Unit links:
- Units 2-3 (IPR) → BBA 318 Global Competitiveness, Unit II (R&D and IPR)
- Unit 1, section 1.9 → BBA 214 International Business Environment and Strategy (Sem 4)
- Unit 1, trade facilitation → BBA 315 Export, Import Policies, Procedures and Documentation (Sem 5)
Other Semester 6 electives: BBA 306 Organization Effectiveness and Change, BBA 308 Strategic HRM, BBA 310 Advertising & Brand Management, BBA 312 Principles of Event Management, BBA 314 Financial Markets & Institutions, BBA 316 Corporate Accounting, BBA 322 Sustainable Entrepreneurship, BBA 324 Entrepreneurial Finance.
Who writes and checks the BBA 320 WTO and IPR notes?
- Prateek Talwar, author: Founder, Unnati Educations · ACS (ICSI, membership no. 58704, since 15 May 2019) · B.Com, University of Delhi (SOL), 2012 · profile
- Sheetal Kirola, subject reviewer: Academic Head, Unnati Educations · M.Ed. · 7 years of experience · profile
The review checked all four units against the 2024-25 BBA scheme and changing figures such as WTO membership (166). Updated 14 October 2026 under our editorial policy.
The same team prepares GGSIPU important questions for every course.
Do the BBA 320 notes cover the full GGSIPU syllabus?
Yes. Every official BBA 320 topic has its own section, plus two topics from the course outcomes: the WTO's impact on India (1.8) and TRIMS (4.4).
| Official unit | Official topics | In the notes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| I: GATT and Evolution of WTO | Role and main features of WTO; agreements: environment, investment, competition policy, government procurement, trade facilitation, social clause, labour standards; implementation and implication; global business environment | 1.2-1.7, 1.9 (pp 4-13) | Covered |
| II: General Introduction in the IP Law | Notion, history and fields of IP; industrial property (inventions to emblems and other signs); scientific discoveries; neighbouring rights | 2.1-2.6 (pp 17-27) | Covered |
| III: IPR and Economic Development | Copyright law; IP law and unfair competition; common features and legal nature of IPR; position in the legal system; international organizations and agreements | 3.1-3.7 (pp 31-39) | Covered |
| IV: International Protection of IP | WIPO; TRIPS; Paris; PCT; Hague; new plant varieties; Budapest; Madrid Agreement and Protocol; Trademark Law Treaty; Berne; Rome; Geneva phonograms | 4.2-4.3, 4.5-4.14 (pp 43-55) | Covered |
BBA 320 official syllabus vs the notes
- Official unit
- I: GATT and Evolution of WTO
- Official topics
- Role and main features of WTO; agreements: environment, investment, competition policy, government procurement, trade facilitation, social clause, labour standards; implementation and implication; global business environment
- In the notes
- 1.2-1.7, 1.9 (pp 4-13)
- Status
- Covered
- Official unit
- II: General Introduction in the IP Law
- Official topics
- Notion, history and fields of IP; industrial property (inventions to emblems and other signs); scientific discoveries; neighbouring rights
- In the notes
- 2.1-2.6 (pp 17-27)
- Status
- Covered
- Official unit
- III: IPR and Economic Development
- Official topics
- Copyright law; IP law and unfair competition; common features and legal nature of IPR; position in the legal system; international organizations and agreements
- In the notes
- 3.1-3.7 (pp 31-39)
- Status
- Covered
- Official unit
- IV: International Protection of IP
- Official topics
- WIPO; TRIPS; Paris; PCT; Hague; new plant varieties; Budapest; Madrid Agreement and Protocol; Trademark Law Treaty; Berne; Rome; Geneva phonograms
- In the notes
- 4.2-4.3, 4.5-4.14 (pp 43-55)
- Status
- Covered
Official source: GGSIPU BBA scheme and syllabus w.e.f. 2024-25, printed pages 149-150.
Every course in GGSIPU notes is mapped to its official PDF this way.
BBA 320 WTO and IPR notes FAQs
How do I get the full BBA 320 notes?
The full BBA 320 notes come only as a printed book; they are not sold as a PDF. Tap "Get Full Notes" at the top or the WhatsApp button at the end of this page and send the pre-filled message. The book reaches you within a maximum of 5-7 days, depending on your location.
Is BBA 320 compulsory in GGSIPU BBA Semester 6?
No. BBA 320 is an elective in the International Business specialisation, paired with BBA 318 Global Competitiveness. A student picks three or four Semester 6 electives: two for the major and one for the minor, or two for each major in the Double Major scheme. It carries 4 credits either way, and colleges offer electives at their discretion.
What is the passing mark for BBA 320?
BBA 320 is marked out of 100: 40 internal and 60 end-term. The internal 40 is a 15-mark class test plus 25 marks for at least two of assignments, presentations, viva-voce, group discussion or class participation. The BBA scheme does not print a pass percentage, so check GGSIPU Ordinance 11 on ipu.ac.in for end-term minimums and re-appear rules.
Which BBA 320 unit is the longest?
Unit 4, International Protection of Intellectual Property: 18 pages and 15 sections in the notes, and 16 lecture hours in the official syllabus, the most of any unit. It also has 12 MCQs against 10 in each other unit. It covers WIPO, TRIPS, TRIMS and ten other treaties, so revise from its summary table on pages 55-56.
Do the BBA 320 notes cover TRIMS?
Yes. Section 4.4 (pages 47-48) covers TRIMS: Article 2, the illustrative list of banned measures, phase-out timelines and the India Solar Cells case (2016), with a TRIPS vs TRIMS table. The official Unit IV list does not name TRIMS, but course outcome CO4 asks students to understand TRIPS and TRIMS in international business, so the notes include it.
Which syllabus version do the BBA 320 notes follow?
The BBA 320 notes follow the revised, NEP based GGSIPU BBA scheme and syllabus that applies from academic session 2024-25. Unit titles and topics match that PDF, which lists the paper at L-4, T-0 and 4 credits, with 15, 14, 14 and 16 lecture hours for Units 1 to 4. Batches admitted before 2024-25 should compare their older syllabus first.
Get the full BBA 320 WTO and Intellectual Property Rights Notes on WhatsApp
The full notes are a 59-page printed book, not a PDF, with 20 figures, 12 case studies, 34 solved short answers and 42 MCQs: WTO and Intellectual Property Rights notes in English.
| Unit | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pages | 3-15 | 16-29 | 30-41 | 42-59 |
Pages per unit in the BBA 320 notes book
- Unit
- Pages
- 1
- 3-15
- 2
- 16-29
- 3
- 30-41
- 4
- 42-59
Delivery: maximum 5-7 days, depending on your location.
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Unnati Educations is an independent education provider based in Vikaspuri, Delhi. We are not affiliated with, authorised by, or endorsed by Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU). 'GGSIPU' and 'IPU' are used only to describe the syllabus our notes follow. For official information, visit ipu.ac.in.
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