Assistant USTR Optimistic About Strong, Balanced Intellectual Property Provisions in TPP
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative-Intellectual Property and Innovation Stan McCoy is optimistic that negotiators of the Trans-Pacific Partnership can come to a “world-class result” for “strong and balanced” intellectual property protection, despite ongoing debate over the rigidity of those protections, he said Thursday. The countries negotiating the treaty are committed to reaching an agreement, he said, saying he believes the negotiations can conclude this year.
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"We've got countries around the table in the TPP community who are really dedicated, both in terms of the resources and the substantive outcome, and I think there’s a wide appreciation among TPP negotiating parties for the importance of having IP be a part of the strong result here,” McCoy said at an Institute for Policy Innovation forum commemorating World Intellectual Property Day.
Industry stakeholders have pushed for strong IP protections in the TPP, but groups including Public Knowledge have voiced concerns over too-restrictive protection (CD Feb 25 p14). McCoy said in February the alarm over IP provisions in the TPP came from a “strain in the public discourse around the Internet that abhors any kind of restriction” (CD Feb 27 p17).
McCoy also highlighted the challenges of negotiating complex treaties like the TPP while retaining a commitment to transparency, at the event Thursday. Although the administration continues to remain committed to transparency in its negotiations, bringing in stakeholders and experimenting with means of engagement in negotiations, McCoy said the president’s trade policy “will continue to support the ability to conclude negotiations -- including the confidentiality that’s necessary to conclude those negotiations.”
James Pooley, World Intellectual Property Organization deputy director general-innovation and technology, said the emphasis on transparency in negotiations had reduced debate to a level “that I find personally a little disturbing.” Those who have negotiated themselves realize the value of some confidentiality, but stakeholders and the public continue to demand far more transparency “than is perhaps appropriate to actual negotiation."
Pooley also noted the overwhelming disparities in patent systems among states, calling the international harmonization of patent laws the “one thing” he would change at once, if he could. “That’s where we've really gotten bogged down in these discussions,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, because it’s easy to see where the advantages could still be found and deals could be struck, if we could get it beyond the problems of listening to one another."
Laurie Self, Qualcomm vice president and counsel-government relations, praised efforts from WIPO and others for pushing for strong IP regulation in the international arena. Discussions in the IP sphere tend to start with the premise that the patent system is broken, she said, which she finds both false and “more importantly, profoundly troubling from a policy perspective.” For Qualcomm, it’s the strength of the patent system that has encouraged it to expand its technologies, she said. “We hear so much about patents as impediments to access to technology, but I think the reverse is true,” she said. “The fact that [Qualcomm has] the confidence to license our patents broadly has unquestionably accelerated the deployment of mobile technology throughout the world."Ben Cockerham, YouTube manager-RightsFlow operations, and Chris Potter, its manager-music partnerships, spoke Thursday about the way YouTube’s Content ID system helps copyright holders protect and commercialize their content online.