Trade

New leak of TPP consolidated text on intellectual property provides details of pandering to drug companies and publishers

Posted on by James Love

For more information:
James Love, Knowledge Ecology International
email: james.love@keionline.org, +1.202.361.3040

The May 16, 2014 version of the consolidated negotiating text for the Intellectual Property Chapter for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is a long, complex document that taken as a whole is designed to expand and extend monopolies on knowledge goods, including in particular publisher-owned copyrights, patents on inventions, and monopoly rights in data used to register new drugs, vaccines and agricultural chemical products.

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KEI Notes & Comments at TTIP Seventh Round of Negotiations at Stakeholder Event

Posted on by Claire Cassedy

The 7th Round of the negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Agreement began Monday September 29, 2014 in the United States. This round’s paltry effort at transparency, the TTIP Stakeholder Engagement Day, was held at the suburban 4-H conference center in Chevy Chase, MD. Although the information packet for the event included public transport instructions, the location was difficult to access for any attendees without a car, and even then, parking was extremely limited. Continue Reading →

Senator Wyden in 2012, on access to the TPP text

Posted on by Claire Cassedy

In 2012, as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Ron Wyden was a strong advocate for providing the public with access to the TPP negotiating text. Now, as Chairman, the Senator has been silent on the public’s right to the text. This is an example of Wyden in 2012. Has his position changed?

Timestamp and notes on Wyden comments on need for transparency in TPP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUYCSSdhEC8

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EU’s TTIP Anti-Transparency Rules laid out in DG-Trade letter to USTR

Posted on by Claire Cassedy

Previously, KEI reported on the terms of reference (TOR) for the confidentiality of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiating texts, as laid out in a letter by USTR to DG-Trade. Although evidently publicly available, the EU counterpart of that letter was not accessible through the FOIA process. Obtained through the EU Regulation (EC) No. Continue Reading →

TTIP: Anti-Transparency Rules laid out in USTR letter to DG-Trade

Posted on by Claire Cassedy

KEI has obtained the terms of reference (TOR) for the confidentiality of the negotiating texts of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Agreement. The TOR are laid out in a two-page letter from US Chief Negotiator Dan Mullaney to EU Chief Negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero which is available here. The letter was obtained through a FOIA request filed by KEI with the USTR on May 19, 2014.

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KEI Notes on TTIP 5th Round: How to engage in a dialogue without access to the text?

Posted on by Claire Cassedy

Wednesday, at the George Mason University Law Campus in Arlington, VA, the Office of the US Trade Representative hosted an all day Stakeholder Forum in conjunction with the fifth negotiating round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The first part of the day was devoted to Stakeholder Policy Presentations, with several hours of presentations by a variety of industry, academics, trade associations, and public interest groups. The latter part of the day consisted of a briefing by the US Chief Negotiator Dan Mullaney and the EU Chief Negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero.

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KEI Comments regarding USTR Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee

Posted on by Claire Cassedy

Comments of KEI, regarding USTR Request For Comments From The Public On The Creation Of The Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee And Request For Nominees To That Committee.

Submitted to Regulations.gov on March 25, 2014, under docket number USTR-2014-0005.

Intellectual property issues are an important element of US trade agreements, and according to a recent study by Open Secrets, the most intensively lobbied issue, by far.

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2009: Sign-on Letter – Against life + 70 year copyright term in the TPP

Posted on by James Love

This is sign-on letter — Against life + 70 year copyright term in the TPP. See end of letter for details on how to sign.

<-------------------begin letter----------- December 9, 2013 Dear TPP negotiators, In a December 7-10 meeting in Singapore you will be asked to endorse a binding obligation to grant copyright protection for 70 years after the death of an author. We urge you to reject the life + 70 year term for copyright. Continue Reading →

Michael Froman’s decision in the Apple/Samsung ITC patent dispute and the USTR trade agenda

Posted on by James Love

froman.jpgOn Saturday, August 3, 2013, USTR head Ambassador Michael B. G. Froman wrote to the Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), to “disapprove the USITC’s determination to issue an exclusion order and cease and desist order” for Apple Inc. “smart phones and tablet computers that infringe a U.S. patent owned by Samsung Electronics,” in the ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-794. Continue Reading →