National industrial strategies for building critical technologies challenge the scope of ‘national security’ in international intellectual property (IP) protection. National security provisions in the WTO are traditionally considered in the military context or ‘an emergency in international relations’ where actions are necessary to safeguard countries’ essential security interests. However, it does not reflect the security issues emerging from new digital technologies. On the other hand, many recent Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) have expanded the scope of national security to include cybersecurity-related measures. The speaker investigates the legal solutions that aim to tackle the unpredictability and instability created by selected trade measures based on national security and other non-economic objectives in international intellectual property protection. These measures include trade bans on the export and import of digital technologies and blocking investments to prevent the diffusion of intellectual property. In order to ensure inclusivity and participation of civil society, the speaker proposes a broad scope of national security to encompass cybersecurity and a multistakeholder model for governing critical technologies.  

Link to the academic paper: 
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jwip.70021
Link to the briefing paper: 
https://citp.ac.uk/publications/national-security-and-intellectual-property-protection-of-critical-technologies