The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement established stronger and more universal standards of intellectual property protection, but many developing countries lack the ability to make effective use of intellectual property rules as a tool of development, or to mitigate its disadvantages. Space should be given for developing countries to adopt the system of intellectual property protection that best suits their development needs. A major challenge for developing countries, especially the smaller and poorer ones, is the diversity and complexity of the international intellectual property right (IPR) architecture and the multiplicity of negotiating forums.