25 - IP in the TPP: How Far Beyond the Existing FTAs Does It Go?

Summary

This chapter focuses on the scope and content of the Intellectual Property Chapter of the TPP, to examine how strict the new IP international protection and enforcement standard is, and to determine how far it goes beyond the existing FTAs and TRIPS. TPP provisions are compared with the “Pre-TPP relevant standards” (both intra-TPP and extra-TPP), and, of course, the WTO TRIPS Agreement. We looked at the NAFTA (the US, Canada, and Mexico) and the US agreements with Singapore, Chile, Australia, the CAFTA countries, Peru, and Korea (KORUS FTA). Some references were made to agreements signed by the European Union with Korea (EU--KOREA FTA) and the one with Canada, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), as well as to the TPP predecessor -- the P4 Agreement -- signed between Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore. While reviewing the enforcement provisions, comparisons were made to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).