Are government-funded research producing patents considered illegal subsidies under the WTO?
<p>Are government-funded research producing patents considered illegal subsidies under the WTO? If not, in what case could this be considered an infringement of WTO trade rules on illegal government subsidies?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/agrm8_e.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/agrm8_e.htm</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Prohibited subsidies: subsidies that require recipients to meet
certain export targets, or to use domestic goods instead of imported
goods. They are prohibited because they are specifically designed to
distort international trade, and are therefore likely to hurt other
countries’ trade. They can be challenged in the WTO dispute settlement
procedure where they are handled under an accelerated timetable. If
the dispute settlement procedure confirms that the subsidy is
prohibited, it must be withdrawn immediately. Otherwise, the
complaining country can take counter measures. If domestic producers
are hurt by imports of subsidized products, countervailing duty can be
imposed.</p>
<p>Actionable subsidies: in this category the complaining country has to
show that the subsidy has an adverse effect on its interests.
Otherwise the subsidy is permitted. The agreement defines three types
of damage they can cause. One country’s subsidies can hurt a domestic
industry in an importing country. They can hurt rival exporters from
another country when the two compete in third markets. And domestic
subsidies in one country can hurt exporters trying to compete in the
subsidizing country’s domestic market. If the Dispute Settlement Body
rules that the subsidy does have an adverse effect, the subsidy must
be withdrawn or its adverse effect must be removed. Again, if domestic
producers are hurt by imports of subsidized products, countervailing
duty can be imposed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>According to the WTO, research subsidies don't see to be considered to be illegal subsidies since their impact are not directly measurable and only has an impact much further down the road. Am I mistaken? I am not 100% sure.</p>

<p>In your quoted section of the rules we see:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“subsidies that require recipients to meet certain export targets, or to use domestic goods…”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These seem to be needed criteria for there to be a violation. Subsidizing research with those stipulations could violate the rules. It has nothing to do with patents or how remote the time frame or measurable the benefit.</p>
<p>Subsidies for research <em>without</em> those strings would clearly not meet the criteria.</p>

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