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Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

NEW in November 2014: WikiLeaks Releases the Secret Draft Text of the TPP IP Rights Chapter

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is a proposed treaty which may force countries to approve software patents or business method patents.

The countries involved

The countries involved are:

Text of the patents section

Here's the patents section of the November 2014 leak:

Article QQ.E.1: {Patents / Patentable Subject Matter}

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 and 3, each Party shall make patents available for any invention, whether a product or process, in all fields of technology, provided that the invention is new, involves an inventive step, and is capable of industrial application.[54]

2. Each Party may exclude from patentability inventions, the prevention within their territory of the commercial exploitation of which is necessary to protect ordre public or morality, including to protect human, animal or plant life or health or to avoid serious prejudice to nature of the environment, provided that such exclusion is not made merely because the exploitation is prohibited by their law.

[US/JP propose; CL/MY/PE/SG/VN/BN/AU/NZ/CA/MX oppose: 2bis. For greater certainty, a Party may not deny a patent solely on the basis that the product did not result in an enhanced efficacy of the known product when the applicant has set forth distinguishing features establishing that the invention is new, involves an inventive step, and is capable of industrial application.]

3. [US/JP/SG propose; AU/NZ/VN/BN/CL/PE/MY/CA/MX oppose: Consistent with paragraph 1, each Party shall make patents available for inventions for plants and animals.]

Alt. 3: {Consistent with paragraph 1, each Party confirms that it makes available patents for plant-related inventions.[55]}

4. [US/AU/JP propose; CL/MY/PE/SG/VN/BN/NZ/CA/MX oppose: Consistent with paragraph 1, the Parties confirm that patents are available for[56]:

any new uses, or alternatively[57], new methods of using a known product.]


[CA propose: Alt (a) any new use, or new method of using a known product that is not otherwise excluded from patentability by the Party.]

[NZ/CA/CL/MY/VN/MX/BN/PE/AU propose: ALT 3. Each Party may also exclude from patentability:

diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals; and


plants and animals other than microorganisms, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals other than non-biological and microbiological processes. However, Parties shall provide for the protection of plant varieties either by patents or by an effective sui generis system or by any combination thereof.]


[MX propose: (c) and the diagrams, plans, rules and methods for carrying out mental processes, playing games or doing business, and mathematical methods as such; software as such, methods to present information as such; and aesthetic creations and artistic or literary works.]

And footnotes 54 to 57 are:


54 For purposes of this Section, a Party may deem the terms “inventive step” and “capable of industrial application” to be synonymous with the terms “non-obvious” and “useful”, respectively. In determinations regarding inventive step (or non-obviousness), each Party shall consider whether the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person skilled or having ordinary skill in the art having regard to the prior art.

55 {For greater certainty, no Party shall be required to make patents available for plant varieties that are protectable in that Party under the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants [1991](UPOV Convention).} {Negotiator's Note: AU would prefer this footnote to be in the main text}.
[Note: This formulation is premised upon the understanding that TPP Parties will make a commitment to accede to UPOV 1991].

56 Negotiator's Note: US/JP reconsidering the inclusion of subparagraph (b) (provision relating to diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods), subject to consensus on patent landing zone.

57 Negotiator's Note: AU is still considering inclusion of “alternatively”.

How to submit comments

  • Australia: Ongoing consultation: http://www.dfat.gov.au/fta/tpp/
  • USA: ?
  • Brunei: ?
  • Chile: ?
  • New Zealand: ?
  • Singapore: ?
  • Australia: ?
  • Malaysia: ?
  • Peru: ?
  • Japan: ?
  • Vietnam: ?

Related pages on ESP Wiki

External links

References

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