KEI comments on USTR 2011 Special 301 Review
KEI’s comments on the USTR 2011 Special 301 Review are available here.
For further background on the 301 process, see: /ustr/special301 Continue Reading
KEI’s comments on the USTR 2011 Special 301 Review are available here.
For further background on the 301 process, see: /ustr/special301 Continue Reading
USTR has issued a request for comments on ACTA. The deadline for submissions is February 15, 2011. The notice gives very little guidance regarding the issues the USTR would like addressed in the comments.
[Billing Code 3190-W1-P]
Office of the United States Trade Representative
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Request for Comments from the Public
Agency: Office of the United States Trade Representative
Action: Request for written submissions from the public
Today USTR provided some additional insight into negotiations of a regional, Asia-Pacific trade agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. The USTR web page on the TPP negotiations is http://www.ustr.gov/tpp. At present, the TPP negotiators include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Japan and Canada have expressed interest in joining the negotiations, and USTR clearly would like to design an agreement that will be open to other countries. Our discussions focused on the intellectual property chapter in the agreement. Continue Reading
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) has received a copy of U.S. industry demands on the Intellectual Property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) negotiations. A draft letter from US industry to USTR has been leaked and is available here.
The following statement is the oral intervention made by USTR at the WTO Council for TRIPS (October 2010) regarding ACTA.
Talking Points of the United States for TRIPS Council Meeting of October 26, 2010
Agenda Item P
ACTAWe would like to thank other delegations for their interest in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
Delegations will recall that the United States and other delegations have been interested in discussing the issue of IP enforcement at this Council for many years and so we’re pleased to have another discussion today.USTR positions in China WTO TRIPS dispute at odds with talking points on ACTA flexibility
Use of Article 1.1 of the TRIPS in the US/China WTO dispute over the enforcement of intellectual property rights
USTR claims that Article 1.2.1 of ACTA provides the flexibility to overlook inconsistencies between US law and ACTA. Below is the text from both Article 1.2.1 of ACTA, and Article 1.1 of TRIPS:
Françoise Castex, French Socialist MEP, asks about USTR assertions that ACTA does not require changes in US law
As David Hammerstein of TACD has also blogged about here, Françoise Castex, a French Socialist MEP, has submitted this priority question about ACTA to the European Commission, asking the Commission to respond to the assertions by the USTR that ACTA wo Continue Reading
USTR’s implausible claim that ACTA Article 1.2 is an all purpose loophole, and the ramifications if true
The October 2010 version of the ACTA text is inconsistent with several areas of U.S. law, and proposals for new laws in the areas of the reform of patent damages and access to orphaned copyrighted works. In particular, the obligations in the ACTA text do not incorporate many of the areas of limitations and exceptions to remedies found in U.S. law, and in the statutes of some other countries.
Notes on the October 7, 2010 USTR NGO briefing on ACTA
Notes on the October 7, 2010 USTR NGO briefing on ACTA
By Judit Rius Sanjuan & Anne Mira Guha
Today, USTR held a nearly 2-hour public briefing on the new version of the ACTA text. USTR representatives present included Stan McCoy, Kira Alvarez, and Rachel Bae. Stan and Kira did most of the talking at the meeting.
USTR’s February 10, 2009 memo on Transparency Soup
Background
On October 14, 2009, KEI submitted a FOIA request to the USTR, which is available here, asking for the following records:
KEI requests all records at USTR on the topic of the policy and practice of USTR regard the transparency of trade negotiations, including but not limited to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).