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TPP: Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)


July 26, 2016


The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed free
trade agreement (FTA) among the United States and 11
Asia-Pacific countries that would reduce and eliminate
tariff and non-tariff barriers on goods, services, and
agriculture, and establish trade rules and disciplines,
including on IPR protection, which expand on World Trade
Organization commitments (WTO-plus).
IP-creations of the mind embodied in physical and digital
objects are a key source of U.S. comparative advantage.
IPR are time-limited rights that governments grant to
inventors and artists to exclude others from using their
inventions and creations without permission. Advancing
IPR protection globally has been a U.S. trade negotiating
objective since 1988 (P.L. 100-418), first reflected in the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and
WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS). The 2015 Trade Promotion
Authority (TPA, P.L. 114-26 ) includes prior U.S. trade
negotiating objectives for U.S. trade agreements to reflect
a standard of protection similar to that found in U.S. law
(TRIPS-plus), and new objectives to combat cyber theft
and protect trade secrets. TPP and IPR debate focuses on
how to protect and enforce IPR to incentivize innovation,
while also securing public benefits from these innovations.
The TPP area is a mix of developed countries, historically
IP generators, and developing countries, historically IP
importers, but now are growing sources of innovation. The
region presents a range of IPR challenges (Fig. 1), such as
high counterfeiting and piracy rates, including in the digital
environment, and weak enforcement of IPR laws. TPP
potentially could address IPR concerns in the broader
region, including with respect to China and India.

Figure I. TPP Countries' IPR Regimes

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          TPP Countrie (12)
       ®  TPP countries with IPA issues, according to
           Special 301 review (5)
Source: U.S. Trade Representative, 2016 Special 301 Report.


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The IP chapter aims to support technological innovation to
benefit both producers and users, while promoting a
balance of rights and obligations. It is enforceable through
dispute settlement. It includes phase-in periods for some
countries to implement certain provisions. General
obligations include upholding international agreements and
not discriminating against foreigners on IPR. Specific
provisions are discussed below.

          Selected IPR Provisions in TPP
A number of provisions in TPP reflect new or updated issues for
U.S. FTA, including in the following areas:
Biologics. Contains provisions on data exclusivity period for
biologics, large-molecule drugs developed from living organisms.
Copyright balance. Provides for incorporation of fair-use
exceptions in countryX's law.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Requires notice and
takedown to address ISP liability while al owing alternative
systems for certain countries (e.g., notice and notice).
Geographical indications (GIs). Requires administrative
procedures for recognizing and opposing GIs, and specific GI
commitments in international agreements.
Trade secrets. Requires criminal procedures and penalties for
trade secret theft, including cyber theft; clarifies that state-
owned enterprises (SOEs) are subject to trade secret
obligations.
Enforcement. Extends enforcement to the digital environment.



Patents protect new innovations, such as pharmaceutical
products, chemical processes, business technologies, and
computer software. TPP aims to establish consistent and
harmonized patent regimes in the region. Some provisions
specific to pharmaceuticals aim, based on U.S. trade
negotiating objectives, to encourage innovation and access
to medicine. Yet, stakeholders disagree on whether TPP
appropriately incentivizes research and development for
new medicines while also allowing affordable access to
medicines through market entry of generic medicines.
Patent rules include:
Patent protection of new products and processes, as well
as new uses, methods, or processes of a known product
(based on TRIPS's 20 years of minimum protection).
Adjustments of patent terms for unreasonable delays in
the patent examination or regulatory approval processes
with phase-in periods for Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
Protection of test data (data innovators submit for
regulatory approval on which generics may later rely):
    Chemical-based (small-molecule) drugs: Five years of
    data exclusivity for new drugs, and three years for new
    formulations of existing drugs.


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