The Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Seattle from November 30 to December 3, 1999. Trade ministers and other officials from the WTO's 135 member nations met in an unsuccessful attempt to plan negotiations to further deregulate free trade. Tens of thousands of activists for many causes gathered to protest what they saw as the WTO's favoring of corporate interests over social and environmental concerns.

This poster is one of many created by groups protesting the WTO conference. The poster is critical of the WTO’s Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), which “sets enforceable global rules on patents, copyrights, and trademarks.” TRIPS made it impossible for developing nations to manufacture generic versions of expensive drugs, such as those to treat HIV. An image of the African continent is overlaid with the text “90% of people with HIV worldwide have no access to lifesaving drugs.” The poster also includes information about a Nonviolent Direct Action at Victor Steinbrueck Park and a Labor March at Memorial Stadium on November 30, 1999.