Cato Event Panelists Discuss Whether Or Not Intellectual Property Provisions in the TPP Are a “Corporate Handout”

 Posted by on March 6, 2014  No Responses »
Mar 062014
 

cato institute logoYesterday the Cato Institute held an event titled “Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership: National Interest or Corporate Handout?”  The panel, moderated by Cato’s Simon Lester, featured Tom Giovanetti (Institute for Policy Innovation), William Watson (Cato), and Margot Kaminski (Yale Information Society Project).  The video of the event is here.

Lester opened the panel, noting that in the 1990s, trade experts discussed intellectual property in vague terms, not really understanding the particulars.  At the time, bringing IP into the trade realm increased support for free trade.  Today, however, people have realized the implications of stronger intellectual property protections, and it is causing trouble.  The inclusion of intellectual property in the trade regime is generating opposition to trade agreements as much as it increasing support for them.  Lester raised the possibility that debates over global intellectual property norms are better left to WIPO.  He asked the panelist to address the issue of whether trade should remain part of the trade realm, and if so, what the rules ought to be. Continue reading »

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Tentative Remarks on Leaked Canada-EU Trade Agreement Intellectual Property Chapter

 Posted by on February 28, 2014  No Responses »
Feb 282014
 

ffii[Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, Link, CC-BY-SA)]Today the German Pirate party published a leaked version of the intellectual property (IP) rights chapter of the EU – Canada trade agreement (CETA), version as of 17 December 2013.

See Carta blog: Piraten leaken CETA-Dokument zu IPR (German).

At first sight, the chapter does not go beyond EU law. That is not good news, in the sense that there are serious problems with EU IP law, exportation of EU law is not a good idea. EU IP law creates problems regarding access to knowledge and participation in culture, for remix artists, sequential innovation, and for software developers. Continue reading »

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USTR rejecting EU bids for more transparency in TTIP

 Posted by on February 28, 2014  No Responses »
Feb 282014
 

Sean FlynnUSTR demands for hyper-secrecy in the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) continue to be a major block to continuing negotiations. The current issue under discussion is access to US proposals by EU member states — which are of course themselves sovereign countries. The member states are demanding access to the text of proposals that would constrain their domestic law making, as they ave had in all other EU trade agreements (e.g. the recent EU-Canada FTA). But Inside US Trade (2/28/2014) reports that USTR Froman has offered only that “he might be able to allow the European Commission to share the U.S. negotiating documents it receives if they were accessible only in a secure reading room.” Continue reading »

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IP and privacy in TTIP / TAFTA

 Posted by on February 25, 2014  No Responses »
Feb 252014
 

US-EU[Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, Link (CC-BT-SA)] With other representatives of civil society organisations and business stakeholders, I spent an afternoon at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs talking about the ongoing talks on a proposed EU – US trade agreement (TTIP/TAFTA).

Intellectual property (IP)

Of course, the ministry assured us that TTIP will not contain ACTA-like Internet provisions or provisions that will limit access to medicine. TTIP will neither change substantial copyright nor the enforcement of copyright. We can only check this after texts are published, may that happen soon. The text of the EU-Singapore FTA is not reassuring, with examples of damages that go beyond adequate damages, creating an upward trend. See: ACTA-plus damages in EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. Continue reading »

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TPPA Ministers Set to Make Crucial IP Decisions This Weekend in Singapore

 Posted by on February 21, 2014  No Responses »
Feb 212014
 

janekelsey2008-200x300The intellectual property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that Wikileaks posted in November signaled over 100 areas of disagreement. Those ‘square brackets’ have been rapidly disappearing in the lead-up to the ministerial meeting in Singapore this weekend, according to Professor Jane Kelsey, who is in Singapore monitoring the negotiations.

‘By the start of the officials’ meetings on Monday the 100-plus points of disagreement in last year’s intellectual property text had already been whittled away. I understand there have been further major decisions already this week, even before the ministers meet’, Kelsey said. Continue reading »

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USTR Accepts Business Proposal to Segregate Public Interest in Advisory Committees

 Posted by on February 19, 2014  No Responses »
Feb 192014
 

sean - 150x150United States Trade Representative Froman announced yesterday that his agency will create a public interest trade advisory committee (PITAC) for academics and NGOs as part of the trade advisory committee structure. But instead of including public interest representatives within Industry Trade Advisory Committees, USTR has accepted the proposal of industry representatives to segregate non-industry views into a separate committee. Continue reading »

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Where policy fora collide: country-code Top-Level Domains and the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement

 Posted by on February 18, 2014  No Responses »
Feb 182014
 

chalmers[Cross posted from susanchalmers.com] To those familiar with the United States’ approach to intellectual property rights (“IP”) and trade policy, it will come as no surprise that the US is pressing other countries to give IP owners more in the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (“TPP”), that is, more powerful economic rights and more power to enforce them.

Some, however, may be surprised by one way in which the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) is angling to satisfy this aim through the TPP. Continue reading »

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The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: Implications for Access to Medicines and Public Health

 Posted by on February 17, 2014  No Responses »
Feb 172014
 

who-logoKajal Bhardwaj and Cecilia Oh
Report Prepared for UNITAID
World Health Organization

In recent years, the number of bilateral and regional trade negotiations has been increasing. Many of these negotiations involve both developed and developing countries, and the ensuing free trade agreements often contain extensive provisions on the protection of intellectual property rights. These provisions usually impose a higher level of protection for intellectual property rights than is required under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS Agreement. These so-called “TRIPS-plus” provisions delay generic market entry and competition. As such, they run counter to UNITAID’s efforts to increase the affordability of, and access to, medicines and other medical products. Continue reading »

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Legislators from Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand and Peru Call for Release of TPP Text

 Posted by on February 11, 2014  No Responses »
Feb 112014
 
Image: Lumin Consulting for EFF (CC-BY)

Image: Lumin Consulting for EFF (CC-BY)

[Reposted from tppmpsfortransparency.org]  Senior legislators from Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand and Peru today issued a joint letter seeking the release of the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) before it is signed, to enable detailed scrutiny and public debate. The signatories include political party leaders and legislators who currently or previously held senior political office in their national governments

In 2009 the parties to the negotiations agreed that the text for the agreement would not be released until the negotiations are concluded, and all documents other than the text will be held in confidence until four years after the agreement comes into force, or the last round of negotiations if the agreement is not concluded. Continue reading »

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US’s “New” Proposed TPP Intellectual Property Chapter Still Requires Patents on Medicinal Forms With “Distinguishing Features”

 Posted by on February 7, 2014  No Responses »
Feb 072014
 

BrookBakerThe US has evergreened its patent proposal requiring patents on new forms of known/existing medicines by requiring patents on medicines with “distinguishing features.”  This is the wine of old IP maximalism – an elixir for Big Pharma – in a new bottle.

IP, health and trade activists expressed outrage in early 2011 when the proposed US IP Chapter for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement was first leaked.  Particularly concerning was the language of section 8.1, addressing standards of patentability. Continue reading »

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Francisco Vera: TPP Threatens Human Rights in Chile’s Digital Environment

 Posted by on January 31, 2014  No Responses »
Jan 312014
 

fvh[Reposted from Digital Rights LAC, Link, (CC-BY-SA)]  At Digital Rights LAC we wanted to ask different specialists in the region about their personal appraisals on digital rights issues. This is the case of Francisco Vera from Chile. We asked him: What is the most critical aspect of the TPP concerning intellectual property for countries in our region?

The greatest threat to human rights in Chile’s digital environment is not posed by a lawsuit or bill but by a free trade agreement known as the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership). Negotiations for this agreement are being secretely conducted among 12 countries from the Asian Pacific and most of the information available about these negotiations was leaked by some of its chapters. Continue reading »

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Sen. Hatch – Obama Administration Should More Aggressively Use Trade Policy to Strengthen Intellectual Property Worldwide

 Posted by on January 29, 2014  No Responses »
Jan 292014
 
Sen. Orrin Hatch

Sen. Orrin Hatch

This morning, Sen. Orrin Hatch spoke about international intellectual property issues at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  He was the keynote at the organization’s launch of the second edition of its Global Intellectual Property Index.  A video of the event is here, and Sen. Hatch takes the podium at 9:45.

Sen. Hatch argued that American history has shown strong intellectual property (IP) leads to prosperity. Research has shown that increased IP leads all countries to enjoy greater foreign direct investment, technology transfer and innovation. However, the “lesson is lost” in the developing world where countries try to develop through “short cuts” that “undermine” and “steal” U.S. innovation.  India is the biggest battlefront, and Indian compulsory licenses based on nonworking are a big problem. Hatch warned that nothing in India’s patent laws limit compulsory licenses to pharmaceuticals, and he warned that other fields of technology such as cell phones or jets could be subject to compulsory licenses too.  Continue reading »

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