Eight civil society groups have released a platform on the intellectual property and health content of the Trans Pacific Partnership. The platform calls ex-officio border measures “inappropriate,” rejects a “one size fits all” regime for patent validity, and warns against using the suggested retail price or rightholder-submitted measurements of value in the determination of damages for IP infringement. It also calls for greater transparency in the TPP than other recent trade negotiations, strong public health safeguards on the patent and data exclusivity provisions, and the exclusion of provisions on pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement.
The Civil Society Comments are signed by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, Health Action International—Global, Health Global Access Project, Knowledge Ecology International, National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices, Oxfam America, Public Citizen, and Universities Allied for Essential Medicines. Click here for the full platform: Civil Society Comments on the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.
