Cyndee Todgham Cherniak provides a trade law perspective on the latest CETA leak, noting that it is so far reaching that it may be inconsistent with the trade promotion goals of the agreement.
Post Tagged with: "IP"
New ACTA Leaks: IP Categories and Border Measures
Another day, another ACTA leak. There were two yesterday: KEI posted text from the general definition section of the draft to demonstrate the treaty goes well beyond counterfeits, while Le Monde Diplomatique posted details on the border measures chapter.
Canada Leads U.S. in International Property Rights Index
Barry Sookman tweeted yesterday about a new study analyzing data on 125 countries to establish a property rights index. The Index focuses on three areas: Legal and Political Environment, Physical Property Rights, and Intellectual Property Rights, and is being to used to promote the importance of intellectual property. Looking at the data, Canada's overall ranking is ahead of the U.S. (Canada is 12th, the U.S. is 15th).
The specific intellectual property rankings are also notable as they highlight the absurdity of the IIPA's ongoing campaign characterizing Canada as weak on IP. Canada's ranks 13th in the survey for intellectual property rights, tied with countries such as France, the UK, and New Zealand (Canada is 17th in copyright protection). The ranking is all the more remarkable since one of the primary data sources for the ranking is the IIPA itself. In other words, even after using IIPA data, Canada ranks alongside many other countries that are typically applauded by the IIPA for their IP policies.
Conference Board of Canada Releases New IP Report, Backs Away From Prior Recommendations
The Conference Board of Canada has released its long-promised report on intellectual property policy in Canada. Readers will recall that last spring the Board withdrew three reports funded by copyright groups after admitting that the reports contained plagiarized passages. In fact, the copyright report recommendations and text were taken directly from the IIPA, the leading copyright lobby in the United States.
The new report, which weighs in at 113 pages, was completed by Ruth Corbin, a Toronto-based IP expert. Corbin started from scratch, reading a broad range of materials, conducting interviews, and leading a private roundtable on the issue (I participated in the roundtable and met separately with her). While there is much to digest, the lead takeaway is to marvel at the difference between a report cribbed from lobby speaking points and one that attempts to dig into the issues in a more balanced fashion. Three examples:
First, the report puts intellectual property policy into perspective as just one portion of the innovation agenda, noting that over-protection can be lead to diminishing returns:
EU Wants Full Access To Canadian Procurement in CETA
Embassy reports on leaked European documents on the latest round of talks in the Canada – EU Trade Agreement. The documents reveal that the EU is seeking full access to Canadian procurement at the national, provincial, and local levels. The documents also indicate that a consolidated text is due by […]
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