2. In recognition of the Parties’ commitment to access to medicines and public health, this Chapter does not and should not prevent the effective utilisation of Article 31bis of the TRIPS Agreement, and the Annex and Appendix to the Annex to the TRIPS Agreement.
3. The Parties recognise the importance of contributing to the international efforts to implement Article 31bis of the TRIPS Agreement, and the Annex and Appendix to the Annex to the TRIPS Agreement.
Article 14.8. National Treatment
1. Each Party shall accord to the nationals of other Parties treatment no less favourable than that it accords to its own nationals with regard to the protection (1) of intellectual property, subject to the exceptions provided in the TRIPS Agreement and in the multilateral agreements administered by the “WIPO”), to which a Party is party.
2. A Party may avail itself of the exceptions referred to in paragraph 1 in relation to its judicial and administrative procedures, including requiring a national of another Party to designate an address for service of process in its territory, or to appoint an agent in its territory, only if such exceptions are:
(a) effective technological measures set out in Article 14.48 (Circumvention of Effective Technological Measures); and
(b) rights management information set out in Article 14.49 (Protection for Electronic Rights Management Information).
(a) necessary to secure compliance with its laws and regulations that are not inconsistent with this Chapter; and
(b) not applied in a manner that would constitute a disguised restriction on trade.
3. The obligations under paragraph 1 do not apply to procedures provided in multilateral agreements concluded under the auspices of WIPO relating to the acquisition or maintenance of intellectual property rights.
Article 14.9. Transparency
1. Each Party shall endeavour to provide that final judicial decisions and administrative rulings of general application that pertain to the availability, scope, acquisition, enforcement, and prevention of the abuse of intellectual property rights shall be published, or where such publication is not practicable, made publicly available, in at least a national language of that Party in such a manner as to enable the other Party and right holders to become acquainted with them. Each Party shall endeavour to provide that such final judicial decisions be published online, where feasible.2
2. Each Party shall take appropriate measures, to the extent possible under its laws and regulations, to publish or make available to the public, information on applications and registrations of trademarks, geographical indications, patents, and designs, and where applicable, legal status information thereof, such as registration and expiration date. Each Party shall endeavour to provide these measures in regards to plant variety rights.
3. Each Party shall endeavour to make available the information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 in the English language.
Article 14.10. Application of Chapter to Existing Subject Matter and Prior Acts
1. Unless otherwise provided in this Chapter, this Chapter gives rise to obligations in respect of all subject matter existing at the date of entry into force of this Agreement for a Party and that is protected on that date in the territory of a Party where protection is claimed, or that meets or comes subsequently to meet the criteria for protection under this Chapter without unreasonably impairing the fair interest of third parties.
2 For greater certainty, nothing in this paragraph shall require a Party to specify online publication in its laws and regulations.
2. Unless provided in this Chapter, a Party shall not be required to restore protection to subject matter that on the date of entry into force of this Agreement for that Party has fallen into the public domain in its territory.
Article 14.11. Exhaustion of Intellectual Property Rights
Each Party shall be free to establish its own regime for exhaustion of intellectual property rights.
Section B. Cooperation
Article 14.12. Cooperation Activities and Initiatives
The Parties may cooperate on the subject matter covered by this Chapter, such as through appropriate coordination, training and exchange of information between the respective intellectual property authorities or relevant agencies of the Parties, or other institutions, as determined by each Party. Cooperation activities and initiatives undertaken under this Chapter shall be done on request, subject to the availability of resources, and on terms and conditions mutually agreed upon between the Parties. Cooperation may cover areas such as:
(a) developments in domestic and international intellectual property policy;
(b) intellectual property administration and registration systems;
(c) education and awareness relating to intellectual property;
(d) intellectual property issues relevant to:
(i) small and medium-sized enterprises;
(ii) science, technology and innovation activities;
(iii) the generation, transfer and dissemination of technology; and
(vi) empowering women and youth;
(e) policies involving the use of intellectual property for research, innovation and economic growth; and
(f) enforcement of intellectual property rights including:
(i) exchanging information on measures and procedures related to enforcing and protecting intellectual property rights and;
(ii) sharing experiences on efforts to reduce and combat counterfeiting and piracy.
Section C. Trademarks
Article 14.13. Types of Signs Registrable as Trademarks
No Party shall require, as a condition of registration, that a sign be visually perceptible, nor shall a Party deny registration of a trademark only on the ground that the sign of which it is composed is a sound. Additionally, each Party shall make best efforts to register scent marks. A Party may require a concise and accurate description, or graphical representation, or both, as applicable, of the trademark.
Article 14.14. Collective and Certification Marks
Each Party shall provide that trademarks include collective marks and certification marks. A Party is not obligated to treat certification marks as a separate category in its law, provided that those marks are protected. Each Party shall also provide that signs that may serve as geographical indications are capable of protection under its trademark system. (3)
Article 14.15. Use of Identical or Similar Signs
Each Party shall provide that the owner of a registered trademark has the exclusive right to prevent third parties that do not have the owner’s consent from using in the course of trade identical or similar signs, including subsequent geographical indications, for goods or services that are identical or similar to those goods or services in respect of which the owner’s trademark is registered, where such use would result in a likelihood of confusion.
In the case of the use of an identical sign for identical goods or services, a likelihood of confusion shall be presumed. (4) (5)
Article 14.16. Exceptions
A Party may provide limited exceptions to the rights conferred by a trademark, such as fair use of descriptive terms, provided that those exceptions take account of the legitimate interest of the owner of the trademark and of third parties.
Article 14.17. Protection of Trademarks That Predate Geographical Indications
Each Party shall protect trademarks where they predate, in its jurisdiction, geographical indications, in accordance with the TRIPS Agreement.
Article 14.18. Well-Known Trademarks
1. Each Party shall provide for appropriate measures to refuse or cancel the registration, and to prohibit the use, (6) of a trademark that is identical or similar to a well-known trademark (7), (8) for identical or similar goods or services, if the use of that trademark is likely to cause confusion with the prior well-known trademark.
2. No Party shall require, as a condition for determining that a trademark is a well- known trademark, that the trademark has been registered in that Party or in another jurisdiction, included on a list of well-known trademarks, or given prior recognition as a well-known trademark.
Article 14.19. Bad Faith Trademarks (9)
Each Party shall provide that its competent authority has the authority to refuse an application or cancel a registration where the application to register the trademark was made in bad faith in accordance with its laws and regulations.
Article 14.20. One and the Same Application Relating to Several Goods or Services
Each Party shall provide that one and the same application for registration of a trademark may relate to several goods or services, or any combination thereof, irrespective of whether they belong to one class or to several classes of the Nice Classification.
Article 14.21. Procedural Aspects of Examination, Opposition and Cancellation
Each Party shall provide a system for the examination and registration of trademarks which includes among other things:
(a) communicating to the applicant in writing, which may be by electronic means, the reasons for any refusal to register a trademark;
(b) providing the applicant with an opportunity to respond to communications from the competent authorities, to contest any initial refusal, and to make a judicial appeal of any final refusal to register a trademark;
(c) providing an opportunity to oppose the registration of a trademark or to seek cancellation of a trademark; and
(d) requiring administrative decisions in opposition and cancellation proceedings to be reasoned and in writing, which may be provided by electronic means.
Article 14.22. Electronic Trademarks System
Each Party shall provide:
(a) a system for the electronic application for, and maintenance of, trademarks; and
(b) a publicly available electronic information system, including an online database, of trademark applications and of registered trademarks.
Article 14.23. Classification of Goods and Services
Each Party shall adopt or maintain a trademark classification system that is consistent with the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, done at Nice on 15 June 1957, (“Nice Classification”). Each Party shall provide that:
(a) registrations and the publications of applications indicate the goods and services by their names, grouped according to the classes established by the Nice Classification; (10) and
(b) goods or services may not be considered as being similar to each other on the ground that, in any registration or publication, they are classified in the same class of the Nice Classification. Conversely, each Party shall provide that goods or services may not be considered as being dissimilar from each other on the ground that, in any registration or publication, they are classified in different classes of the Nice Classification.
Article 14.24. Term of Protection for Trademarks
Each Party shall provide that initial registration and each renewal of registration of a trademark is for a term of no less than 10 years.
Article 14.25. Non-Recordal of a License
No Party shall require recordal of trademark licenses:
(a) to establish the validity of the license; or
(b) as a condition for use of a trademark by a licensee to be deemed to constitute use by the holder in a proceeding that relates to the acquisition, maintenance or enforcement of trademarks.
Section D. Geographical Indications
Article 14.26. Protection of Geographical Indications
Each Party shall ensure in its laws and regulations adequate and effective means to protect geographical indications. Each Party recognises that such protection may be provided through a trademark system, a sui generis system, or other legal means, provided that all requirements under the TRIPS Agreement are fulfilled. (11)
Article 14.27. Procedures for the Protection of Geographical Indications
The Parties shall provide procedures for the protection of Geographical Indications including for application and opposition, and ensure that their laws, regulations and guidance are readily available to the public.
Article 14.28. Date of Protection of a Geographical Indication
If a Party grants protection to a geographical indication, the protection shall commence no earlier than the filing date (12) or the registration date in that Party according to the Party’s laws and regulations.
Section E. Patents
Article 14.29. Patentable Subject Matter
1. Subject to paragraphs 2 and 3, patents shall be available for any inventions, whether products or processes, in all fields of technology, provided that they are new, involve an inventive step, and are capable of industrial application. (13) Subject to paragraph 3, patents shall be available and patent rights enjoyable without discrimination as to the place of invention, the field of technology, and whether products are imported or locally produced.
2. A Party may exclude from patentability inventions, the prevention within its territory of the commercial exploitation of which is necessary to protect public order or morality, including to protect human, animal or plant life or health, or to avoid serious prejudice to the environment, provided that such exclusion is not made merely because the exploitation is prohibited by its laws and regulations.
3. A Party may also exclude from patentability:
(a) diagnostic, therapeutic, and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals; and
(b) plants and animals other than micro-organisms, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals other than non-biological and microbiological processes. However, each Party shall provide for the protection of plant varieties either by patents or by an effective sui generis system or by any combination thereof. The Parties shall review this subparagraph upon any amendment to subparagraph 3(b) of Article 27 of the TRIPS Agreement with a view to deciding whether to adopt a similar amendment to this subparagraph.
Article 14.30. Rights Conferred
1. Each Party shall provide that a patent shall confer on its owner the following exclusive rights:
(a) where the subject matter of a patent is a product, to prevent third parties not having the owner’s consent from the acts of making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing (14) for these purposes that product; and
(b) where the subject matter of a patent is a process, to prevent third parties not having the owner’s consent from the act of using the process, and from the acts of using, offering for sale, selling, or importing for these purposes at least the product obtained directly by that process.
2. Patent owners shall also have the right to assign, or transfer by succession, the patent and to conclude licensing contracts.
Article 14.31. Grace Period
Each Party shall disregard information contained in public disclosure (15) used to determine if an invention is novel or has an inventive step if the public disclosure:
(a) was made or authorised by, or derived from, the patent applicant, (16) and
(b) occurred within 12 months prior to the date of filing in the territory of the Party of the application.
Article 14.32. 18-Month Publication
1. Each Party shall publish any patent application promptly after the expiry of 18 months from its filing date or, if priority is claimed, from its earliest priority date, unless the application has been published earlier, or has been withdrawn, abandoned or refused. (17)
2. If a pending application is not published promptly in accordance with paragraph 1, the Party shall publish that application or the corresponding patent as soon as practicable.
3. Nothing in this Article shall be construed to require a Party to publish any information the disclosure of which it considers to be contrary to its national security or to public order or morality.
4. Each Party shall provide that the applicant may request the early publication of an application prior to the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 14.33. Procedural Aspects of Examination and Registration
Each Party shall provide a system for the examination and registration of patents which includes among other things:
(a) communicating to the applicant in writing, which may be by electronic means, the reasons for any refusal to register a patent;
(b) providing the applicant with an opportunity to respond to communications from the competent authorities, to contest any initial refusal, and to make a judicial appeal of any final refusal to register a patent;
(c) providing an opportunity for interested parties to seek cancellation or invalidation of a registered patent, and in addition may provide an opportunity for interested parties to oppose the registration of a patent; and
(d) making decisions in opposition, cancellation, or invalidation proceedings to be reasoned and in writing, which may be delivered by electronic means.
Article 14.34. Amendments, Corrections, and Observations
Each Party shall provide an applicant for a patent with at least one opportunity to make amendments, corrections or observations in connection with its application.
Article 14.35. Exceptions
A Party may provide limited exceptions to the exclusive rights conferred by a patent, provided that such exceptions do not unreasonably conflict with a normal exploitation of the patent and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the right holder, taking account of the legitimate interests of third parties.
Article 14.36. Other Use without Authorisation of the Right Holder
For greater certainty, nothing in this Agreement shall limit a Party’s rights and obligations under Article 31 and Article 31bis of the TRIPS Agreement, and the Annex and Appendix to the Annex to the TRIPS Agreement.
Article 14.37. Experimental Use of a Patent
Without limiting Article 14.35 (Exceptions), each Party may, in accordance with its laws and regulations, provide that any person may do an act that would otherwise infringe a patent if the act is done for experimental purposes (18) relating to the subject matter of a patented invention.
Article 14.38. Regulatory Review: Exception
Without prejudice to the scope of, and consistent with, Article 30 of TRIPS, each Party may, in accordance with its laws and regulations, provide that a third person may do an act that would otherwise infringe a patent, if the act is done for purposes connected with obtaining regulatory approval in that Party, another country or both.
Article 14.39. Protection of New Varieties of Plants
Each Party shall provide for the protection of new varieties of plants through an effective sui generis plant variety protection according to the Party’s law and regulations.
Section F. Industrial Designs
Article 14.40. Industrial Design Protection
1. The Parties shall ensure that requirements for securing or enforcing registered industrial design protection do not unreasonably impair the opportunity to obtain or enforce such protection.
2. Each Party confirms that protection for industrial designs is available for designs:
(a) embodied in a part of an article; or, alternatively;
(b) having a particular regard, where appropriate, to a part of an article in the context of the article as a whole, in accordance with its laws and regulations.
3. The duration of protection available for registered industrial designs shall amount to at least 10 years from the date of filing.
Article 14.41. Procedural Aspects of Examination and Registration
Each Party shall provide a system for the examination and registration (19) of industrial designs which includes among other things:
(a) communicating to the applicant in writing, which may be by electronic means, the reasons for any refusal to register an industrial design;
(b) providing the applicant with an opportunity to respond to communications from the competent authorities, to contest any initial refusal, and to make a judicial appeal of any final refusal to register an industrial design;
(c) providing an opportunity for interested parties to seek cancellation or invalidation of a registered industrial design, and in addition may provide an opportunity for interested parties to oppose the registration of an industrial design; and
(d) making decisions in opposition, cancellation, or invalidation proceedings to be reasoned and in writing, which may be delivered by electronic means.