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The latter part of the twentieth century saw considerable efforts at the harmonization of international intellectual property laws through international agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS).'Efforts at harmonizing international intellectual property laws are nothing new, however. Countries have been attempting to harmonize their laws since the nineteenth century. 2 Increasingly, the United States has altered its intellectual property laws in order to comport with international standards.'In the area of patent law, harmonization steps have resulted in giving consideration to inventive activities taking place outside of the United States, 4 the publication of patent applications after eighteen months,'the addition of" offers to sell" and" importation" as forms of patent infringement, 6 and the change in