Transcript Brazil`s Services Trade and International Trade Negotiations

The Intellectual Property
Provisions of Recent US FTAs
Video Conference for Andean Countries on Intellectual
Property Rights, May 4, 2005
CARSTEN FINK
Overview
US Trade Promotion Authority
Key ‘TRIPS-plus’ elements
IPRs rules in investment chapter
A good bargain?
Social and economic implications
US Trade Promotion Authority
“… to further promote adequate and
effective protection of intellectual
property rights, including through […]
ensuring that provisions […] reflect a
standard of protection similar to that
found in United States law.”
“… to respect the Declaration on the TRIPS
Agreement and Public Health […]”
Recent analysis
Fink and Reichemiller (2005)
Recent bilateral agreements signed and
approved by US Congress:
Vietnam, Jordan, Singapore, Chile,
Morocco, Australia
Still pending in US Congress:
DR-CAFTA, Bahrain
TRIPS-plus elements: patents
Patent term extension
Patenting of life forms
Limits on the use of compulsory
licenses
Second-use patents
IPRs and public health
Linkage between patent status and
drug marketing approval
Test data protection for pharmaceutical
products, mainly through exclusivity
Limitations on parallel importation
Side letters on public health
Exception or interpretation?
TRIPS-plus elements: copyright
Extended term of protection
Technological protection measures
Liability of Internet service providers
Parallel importation of copyrighted
works
TRIPS-plus elements: enforcement
Limited recognition of institutional
constraints
Wider application of border measures
Stronger civil and criminal procedures
to deter IPRs infringement
IPRs in investment chapters
IPRs included in the definition of
investment
Some agreements exclude compulsory
licenses as an act of expropriation (as
long as they comply with trade rules)
Investor-state dispute settlement
A good bargain?
Empirical question
Does logic of mercantilism apply?
IPRs concessions are not of a
preferential nature
Quantification of possibly effects is
difficult
Economic and social implications
Depends on country, pre-existing state
of IPRs protection
Attract FDI and foreign technology?
Reduced ability to advance public health
objectives?
Unduly constrain fair use?
Use of scarce resources in enforcement
Some final lessons
There are important differences among
recent agreements
Negotiations have been one-sided
More analysis and ex ante assessments
are needed