A First Look at Canada-Europe Free Trade Agreement Text on
Patent Term Restoration and Other Exclusivities
Canada and Europe announced in October 2013, an agreement in
principle on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Its most significant aspect was the potential increase of some
Canadian drug patent terms by up to two years. The treaty text was
released by the Canadian government on September 26, 2014. This
article focuses on pharmaceutical IP, which is primarily covered in
Article 9 of Chapter 22 in the treaty text.
Background on CETA
CETA was the product of several years of negotiations. It is a
wide-ranging trade agreement covering diverse topics such as
foreign ownership and investments, access to public procurement
contracts, automobiles, food (e.g. beef and dairy products) and
agriculture. Pharmaceuticals were also a prominent part of the
discussion. The agreement was negotiated in secret. Europe was
reportedly pressuring Canada to
