Cross posted form ARL Policy Notes, Link (CC-BY) On October 5, 2015, the twelve trade ministers of the TPP negotiating parties (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States) announced that they…
This morning, trade ministers from the twelve countries negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership jointly announced that “we have successfully concluded the Trans-Pacific Partnership.” The U.S. Trade Representative has also released a summary of the agreement that has been reached. Negotiations…
USTR has reportedly tabled a new provision for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) that would carve out tobacco regulation from the effect of its investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) chapter, which allows private companies to challenge domestic regulations in secretive and…
Brook K. Baker and Katrina Geddes Abstract: Despite the deep irony of free trade agreements being subverted to codify and extend anti-competitive monopoly rights and despite the equally deep irony of foreign investors having greater enforcement rights than local investors,…
Ministerial talks for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) collapsed in Maui last month when trade ministers sparred over issues including monopolies for biotech drugs, which include many cancer treatments. Talks resumed this weekend in Atlanta, where negotiators are reportedly exploring a…
Author: Carlos Correa Abstract: Most free trade agreements signed by the United States, the European Union and the members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in the last 15 years contain chapters on intellectual property rights with provisions applicable…
[Maira Sutton, EFF, Link (CC-BY)] Copyright restricts all kinds of important, everyday uses of creative works—even worse, these strict rules last nearly two lifetimes for any given work. We are fighting to reform and push back against these restrictions in…
[Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, Link (CC-BY)] The European Commission has published its investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform proposal for the EU-US trade agreement under negotiation (TTIP). Introduction: The commission’s proposal institutionalises discrimination. It gives foreign investors – and…
Dr Belinda Townsend, Dr Pat Ranald and Dr Deborah Gleeson Click here for full document (PDF). Excerpted IP and ISDS Sections Follow: Leaked negotiating texts by Japan and South Korea for an intellectual property (IP) chapter in RCEP are particularly…
Author: Kimberlee G. Weatherall Abstract: The Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) required extensive changes to Australian copyright law. This paper assesses the impact of these changes one decade on. It considers, first, whether the costs and/or benefits predicted in 2004…
The White House Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) has issued a request for comments to inform the drafting of the next Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement. The notice “invites public input and participation in shaping…
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a highly secretive trade agreement being negotiated between the US and eleven Pacific Rim countries, including Australia. Having obtained a fast-track authority from the United States Congress, US President Barack Obama is keen to finalise…