ISDS Case Map
intellectual property
Although advances have been made in some chapters, reports suggest that virtually the whole of the agreement's IP chapter remains up in the air.
Officials from the European Union (EU) and India are expected to meet in Brussels on April 12th to resume technical talks on the long-stalled EU-India free trade agreement (FTA). A leaked draft of the agreement, which has been under discussion since 2007, contains proposals from the EU that push for intellectual property (IP) provisions in the FTA that could jeopardize access to affordable medicines.
While it’s positive that at least the parties are coming to the conclusion to forego the gratuitous copyright term extension, most of the changes in the consolidated text show a continued tightening of copyright protections that favor incumbent rights holders at the expense of users and the commons.
By treating IP laws as just another football in the America vs. China rivalry, Trump misses the way elites in both countries can use malformed trade policy to undercut workers in both countries.
NAFTA was the first “trade” agreement that included new monopoly powers for Big Pharma companies.
India's Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu today indicated the resumption of negotiations of the long-stalled free trade pact between India and the European Union.
US-led multilateral trade agreements have forced poorer foreign countries to honor patents in exchange for the benefits of bringing multi-national corporations—and their factory jobs—abroad.
China's top commerce official said on Sunday that it has no intention to start a trade war with the United States and will not initiate one, but the country can cope with any challenge and will defend its national interests.
What's needed is a much more open and inclusive process, to ensure that trade agreements such as NAFTA reflect the needs of all rather than just those of well-connected corporate lobbies.
On March 8, trade representatives from eleven Pacific rim countries including Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Australia are expected to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership, now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The agreement has been slimmed down both in its content—22 items in the text have been suspended, including the bulk of the intellectual property chapter—and also in its membership, with the exclusion of the United States which had been the driver of those suspended provisions.
