A more thorough explanation:

TRIPS stands for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. It is a treaty that was created to strengthen and harmonize the laws related to intellectual property rights among its signatories. The treaty links the obligation to protect the intellectual property rights of other members' citizens with a mechanism for settling international trade disputes.

TRIPS was negotiated at the 1994 Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). More than 130 nations are parties to the agreement. The treaty standardized patentable subject matter to include medicines, required testing for nonobviousness and utility, protected patentees from infringing imports, and all but eliminated compulsory licenses.

For example, in response to the TRIPS agreement, Congress changed patent terms to 20 years from the date of application, widened the definition of infringement to cover offering for sale and importing, and permitted provisional applications to establish priority.

Articles 1-8 of TRIPS include the basic principles of national treatment and most-favored-nation treatment. This means that each member must give to the nationals of other members treatment no less favorable than that given to its own nationals, and must give to the nationals of all members the same privileges as are given to the nationals of any member. This ensures that bilateral agreements between members should no longer be permitted.

In summary, TRIPS is a treaty that harmonizes and strengthens the laws related to intellectual property rights among its signatories. It ensures that each member treats the nationals of other members no less favorably than its own nationals and eliminates compulsory licenses. Congress made changes to patent terms, the definition of infringement, and allowed provisional applications in response to the TRIPS agreement.