Protecting IP Rights Should Be Top Focus of US-Japan Trade Deal, Say 2 Tech Groups

Better protecting U.S. intellectual property rights should be a high priority in negotiating a new trade agreement with Japan, tech groups urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in comments posted this month in docket USTR-2018-0034. USTR sought comment in late October to develop U.S. negotiating positions with the aim of addressing “both tariff and non-tariff barriers and to achieve fairer, more balanced trade.” A “flexible” and “balanced” IP “regime” is critical “for the continued growth of the digital economy,” said the Computer & Communications Industry Association. A U.S.-Japan free trade agreement “should reflect the two trading partners’ commitments to preserving limitations and exceptions in copyright law needed to further innovation,” said CCIA. U.S. trade policy “has long reflected domestic copyright principles by including necessary intermediary protections for online services in trade agreements dating back to 2003,” it said. The “single most important part” of the semiconductor manufacturing industry is its IP, said SEMI, the industry’s top supply-chain trade group. Continued technological development “requires significant resource commitments, and as such, strong global intellectual property protections are a top priority,” it said. “The ability to leverage this intellectual property means that companies in this industry can engage in trade and reinvest revenue into research.” SEMI strongly supports efforts to better protect IP, “and encourages greater enforcement of trade and investment rules,” it said. A Semiconductor Industry Association top negotiating priority is a U.S.-Japan trade deal that ensures access to encryption products, said SIA. “We recommend that all U.S. trade agreements contain specific commitments preventing parties from placing discriminatory restrictions on commercial foreign products with encryption,” said SIA. It also wants a trade agreement that bolsters protections of trade secrets, which remain “extremely vulnerable, especially in jurisdictions with weak laws and/or enforcement practices," it said. SIA warned about "misappropriation of trade secrets enabled or encouraged" by government industrial policy. Comments were due by midnight Monday. The U.S. Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator received comments last week as it looks to put together its next three-year joint strategic plan (see 1811260014).