Alex Stack, a Toronto IP lawyer, has a detailed post analyzing the EU's proposed patent provisions in the Canada – EU Trade Agreement.
Cooperation in the Pacific Rim by Jakob Polacsek, World Economic Forum (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/48179628441
Digital Trade
New ACTA Leaks: Criminal Enforcement, Institutional Issues, and International Cooperation
New ACTA leaks have emerged this week that fill in the blanks about the remainder of the still-secret treaty. While earlier leaks provided extensive detail on the Internet and civil enforcement chapters, these latest leaks shed new light into the criminal enforcement section, the chapter on ACTA institutional issues, and international cooperation.
Criminal Enforcement
As described by KEI, the European Union has proposed language to require criminal penalties for "inciting, aiding and abetting" certain offenses, including "at least in cases of willful trademark counterfeiting and copyright or related rights piracy on a commercial scale." Willful copyright infringement includes instances that "have no direct or indirect motivation of financial gain."
Institutional Arrangements
KEI reports that the Institutional Arrangement chapter – Chapter 5 of the ACTA text – is the second longest in the treaty. It includes the creation of an ACTA Oversight Committee that may have the power to amend the treaty itself. The leaked text reveals the following proposal:
Clement: Copyright Bill Before the Summer
The Wire Report reports that Industry Minister Tony Clement has confirmed that the government plans to introduce a new copyright bill before the summer recess. Clement also commented on ACTA, stating that it is his position that "whatever comes out of ACTA has to be compliant with our laws."
Official ACTA Responses Begin To Mount
As public outrage over ACTA mounts, there have been a series of official responses to questions posed by legislators or raised through access to information requests. In addition to yesterday's statement from International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan's office confirming Canada's support of release of the ACTA text, recent documents […]
NPR: ACTA Causes a Stir
National Public Radio featured a story on ACTA yesterday that included comments from across the spectrum including the USTR's Stan McCoy, the MPAA, Gigi Sohn from Public Knowledge, and me.
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