Inter-Pacific Bar Association 24th Annual Meeting & Conference (Vancouver, Canada)
- Issues under the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Sustainable Intellectual Property Rights in a Trans-Pacific Partnership World - "TPP Investment Chapter and IP Matters"

As the negotiations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) progress, the intellectual property provisions being adopted are intended to bring greater harmonization between the IP laws of the various signatory countries. Such provisions are foreseen as going beyond the harmonization already adopted under WIPO and the TRIPS agreement. However, some of those TPP provisions upon ratification in the individual countries may in turn have unintended consequences that could be inconsistent with or worse contrary to the current practices or traditions of certain signatory countries.

This panel session will explore the potential effects of the IP provisions in the TPP on various country jurisdictions with respect to each of the various types of intellectual property, namely patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. Among the issues that will be raised will be whether the harmonization intended by the IP provisions of TPP can result in a sustainable IP regime consistent with the commercial, economic, health and environmental needs of the individual signatory countries.