WikiLeaks releases full IP chapter of TPP

Journalistic organisation WikiLeaks has released the full intellectual property chapter of the final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal.

The chapter was published on the WikiLeaks website on October 9 and outlines the IP rules that each of the 12 participating countries need to comply with in order to ratify the TPP.

The 12 nations participating in the TPP agreement are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.

Among the most notable rules are that the length of copyright protection will be ‘life plus 70 years’. This term is consistent with US law, but in Australia and New Zealand it is currently ‘life plus 50 years’.

One of the fiercest critics of this change is the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The organisation said it was the “ biggest overall defeat for users” in a blog post published on the day of the chapter’s release.

The minimum protection term of data exclusivity for biological drugs is five years, although participating countries will be allowed to provide protection for eight years.

The minister for trade and investment in Australia, Andrew Robb, announced last week that the country will not be required to extend the period beyond the current five years. He added that this will mean that the price of drugs will not go up.

But in the US, the period of protection for data exclusivity is currently 12 years. The TPP agreement will mean that the term will have to be reduced to at least eight years, which has been met with criticism from some quarters.

Deborah Gleeson, a lecturer in the School of Psychology and Public Health at La Trobe University in Melbourne, called the protection term a “ disaster for global health”, while Jim Greenwood, chief executive of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, said he was disappointed.

Also outlined in the agreement are safe harbour provisions for internet service providers (ISPs). However, such safe harbours are not contingent on the ISP “affirmatively seeking facts indicating infringing activity”.

The TPP also authorises countries to bring criminal sanctions against those misappropriating a company’s trade secrets. Such criminal penalties can be brought against those who gain unauthorised access to confidential data for commercial use or with intent to harm the IP owner.

WIPR will be bringing more analysis on the IP chapter.