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20 November 2016Copyright

WIPR survey: IP may be a casualty under Trump regime

Intellectual property may end up being a casualty when Donald Trump becomes president of the US, according to WIPR readers.

Responding to WIPR’s recent survey, three quarters of readers expressed concern that Trump’s administration will not be good for IP in the country.

“Economic chaos and resentment caused by his other policies may cause a general backlash, and as IP is something he doesn’t understand, it may be a casualty,” said one respondent.

Another added that while Trump’s position on IP “remains vague at best, his threats to rip up US trade treaties which have the protection of IP enshrined into them leaves room for IP practitioners around the world to remain very anxious”.

However, the same reader explained that it is entirely possible Trump’s treaty changes will bring benefits in terms of IP protection in the long run.

“It remains to be seen whether Trump will have an active policy of improvement when it comes to the US Patent and Trademark Office, a policy which would be more likely to have a positive effect on the US IP situation in the short to medium term,” they said.

Back in May, WIPR  reported that Trump had put forward a list of potential replacements to fill the void at the US Supreme Court left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February.

The reader said: “If president-elect Trump were to appoint a justice to the Supreme Court with a background in intellectual property then, symbolically at least, this could prove to be a positive for intellectual property protection. This however, seems doubtful.”

Another reader expressed concern that Trump was “too protectionist” to allow foreign IP and good ideas into the US, while one explained that Trump’s views on trade compliance “and his focus on preserving the ‘value added’ proposition of US goods will strengthen IP protection”.

One respondent added: “IP protection has been weakened substantially over the last decade, and Trump’s positions on foreign trade should extend to better protection for IP in the US.”

For this week’s survey, we ask: Last week, WIPR  reported that EU member states must allow authors to prevent the digital reproduction of out-of-print books, according to a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. What are the wider implications of this decision?

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