More IP in Trade? No, thanks!

Today, TACD releases a new policy resolution on the proposed Intellectual Property (IP) chapter in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). We believe that trade is not the place to negotiate intellectual property and therefore are of the view that the proposed TTIP should exclude any provisions related to the protection of intellectual property rights.

The legal framework for the protection of IP is already very well developed on both sides of the Atlantic as well as at the international level. Adding new layers of protection could block the possibility for the EU and the US to change IP standards in the future, with negative effects on citizens’ rights to health, education and free speech.

However, if the US government and the European Commission decide to include an IP chapter in the TTIP, our resolution provides a set of recommendations to the EU and U.S. negotiators on how to make the IP chapter an instrument that could actually serve the societal function of IP. Our recommendations focus on copyright, patents, trade secrets, safeguards, IPR enforcement and ISDS.

The resolution also proposes a positive agenda for IP policy in the TTIP which should seek to:

– Enable public knowledge sharing through open data and collaborative innovation, especially in areas of public interest such as health, and environmental protection;

– Guarantee that research investments in the field of health and medical technologies come back to consumers living in the TTIP countries as affordable products;

– Strengthen the role of works in the public domain as enablers of creativity, innovation and access to knowledge as well as enable the adoption of strong.

Please click here to read the full TACD resolution on the proposed IP chapter in TTIP.