Leaked: Obama’s Trade Deal Includes Strong Intellectual Property Rights
I had been concerned that the Trade Promotion Authority, which Congress just granted the president, would be problematic because the president would not push for strong intellectual property protection in international trade agreements, especially the Trans Pacific Partnership.
I am glad to learn that I was wrong (or that the administration heeded my concerns):
A recent draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal would give U.S. pharmaceutical firms unprecedented protections against competition from cheaper generic drugs, possibly transcending the patent protections in U.S. law.
The draft text includes provisions that could make it extremely tough for generics to challenge brand-name pharmaceuticals abroad. Those provisions could also help block copycats from selling cheaper versions of the expensive cutting-edge drugs known as “biologics” inside the U.S……
(Michael Grunwald, “Leaked: What’s in Obama’s trade deal,” Politico, June 2015)
When the official draft comes out, this will cause lots of controversy in the U.S. and abroad.
