Today’s blog post has been kindly drafted for us by the South-East Asia IPR SME Helpdesk external expert Mr. Manh Hung Tran from BMVN International LLC, a member firm of Baker & McKenzie International. In his article, Mr. Manh Hung Tran discusses what signing the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership means to its signatories in terms of IPR protection.
At the November 2017 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, the 11 countries remaining in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) took a significant step forward to finalize a new agreement now referred to as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
In the absence of a key player – the United States – this new cross-border deal, the CPTPP is reported to have largely incorporated the TPP on the one hand but “suspended” certain intellectual property provisions on the other hand, in hopes of reviving them when the United States re-joins the agreement at some point in the future. Thus, although the final text has not been published, it is highly likely that the CPTPP has ceased the effect of many IP-related and/or drug-specific articles that the United States rigorously promoted when the TPP was being negotiated.
In light of the above, we think that the following important issues in Chapter 18 of the TPP, which concerns intellectual property, may have been included in the list of suspended provisions of the CPTPP. Continue reading “The CPTPP – What to Expect?” »
Good news for the European SMEs whose patents in Indonesia have lapsed because of non-payment, it is now possible to revive these patents. Today’s blog post explaining the decision of Indonesia’s Directorate General of Intellectual Property about the revival of lapsed patents has been kindly drafted for us by our South-East Asia IPR SME Helpdesk external expert Ms. Wongrat Ratanaprayul from Tilleke & Gibbins. 
