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ARTICLE · 11 DECEMBER 2017

The CPTPP places IP in the too-hard basket

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The CPTPP (initially the TPP) has resolved to continue to reach agreement, but without certain clauses, such as IP.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Gareth Dixon
Gareth Dixon
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The "CPTPP", otherwise known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership is what remains of the "TPPA-11" (which was itself, what remained of the Trans-Pacific Partnership ("TPP") Free Trade Agreement following the withdrawal of the United States). Last month, in Vietnam, the eleven remaining signatories resolved to push forward toward an agreement – but to suspend certain "polarising" clauses within the current draft. The most notable suspended provisions relate to IP.

Brief history of the TPP

Following more than 25 rounds of negotiations spanning over a decade, the text of the TPP was finally agreed on 5 October 2015. Involving 12 countries and affecting up to 40% of the world's population, the TPP stood to be the largest free trade agreement in history.

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