(f) encourage development by the private sector of methods of self-regulation that foster digital trade, including codes of conduct, model contracts, guidelines, and compliance mechanisms;
(g) collaborate to improve opportunities for each Party's RegTech enterprises, including through their respective trade promotion agencies and regulators, and in relevant international fora; and
(h) facilitate participation by women in digital trade, acknowledging the objectives in Chapter 24 (Trade and Gender Equality).
Chapter 15. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Section A. General Provisions
Article 15.1. Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Chapter:
"Berne Convention" means the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, done at Berne on 9 September 1886, as revised at Paris on 24 July 1971 and amended on 28 September 1979;
"broadcasting" means the transmission by wire or wireless means, including by satellite, for public reception of sounds or of images and sounds or of the representations thereof, and including transmission of encrypted signals if the means for decrypting are provided to the public by the transmitting broadcasting organisation or with its consent, and "broadcast" shall be construed accordingly;
"Budapest Treaty" means the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure (1977), done at Budapest on 28 April 1977, as amended on 26 September 1980;
"Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health" means the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2), adopted on 14 November 2001;
"fixation" means the embodiment of sounds or moving images or representations thereof, in each case, from which they can be perceived, reproduced or communicated through a device;
"Hague Agreement" means the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, done at Geneva on 2 July 1999;
"intellectual property" refers to all categories of intellectual property that are the subject of Sections 1 through 7 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement;
"Locarno Agreement" means the Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs, done at Locarno on 8 October 1968, as amended on 28 September 1979;
"Madrid Protocol" means the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, done at Madrid on 27 June 1989;
"Marrakesh Treaty" means the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, done at Marrakesh on 27 June 2013;
"Nice Agreement" means 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;
"Paris Convention" means the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, done at Paris on 20 March 1883 as revised at Stockholm on 14 July 1967;
"PCT" means the Patent Cooperation Treaty, done at Washington on 19 June 1970, as amended on 28 September 1979, and modified on 3 February 1984 and on 3 October 2001;
"performers" means actors, singers, musicians, dancers, and other persons who act, sing, deliver, declaim, play in, interpret, or otherwise perform literary or artistic works or expressions of folklore, and "performances" shall be construed accordingly;
"phonogram" means the fixation of the sounds of a performance or of other sounds other than in the form of a fixation incorporated in a cinematographic or other audio- visual work;
"PLT" means the Patent Law Treaty adopted by the WIPO Diplomatic Conference, done at Geneva on 1 June 2000;
"producer of a phonogram" means a person that takes the initiative and has the responsibility for the first fixation of the sounds of a performance or other sounds, or the representations of sounds;
"rights management information" means:
(a) information that identifies a work, performance, or phonogram, the author, performer of the performance, the producer of a phonogram, or any other right holder with respect to the work, performance, or phonogram;
(b) information about the terms and conditions of use of the work, performance, or phonogram; or
(c) any numbers or codes that represent the information described in subparagraphs (a) and (b),
when any of these items of information is attached to a copy of the work, performance or phonogram, or appears in connection with the communication or making available of a work, performance, or phonogram to the public;
with respect to copyright and related rights, "right to authorise or prohibit" refers to exclusive rights;
"Rome Convention" means the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations, done at Rome on 26 October 1961;
"Singapore Treaty" means the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, done at Singapore on 27 March 2006;
"TIPRIC" means the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits, adopted at Washington on 26 May 1989;
"trade secret" means information that:
(a) is secret in the sense that it is not, as a body or in the precise configuration and assembly of its components, generally known among or readily accessible to persons within the circles that normally deal with the kind of information in question;
(b) has commercial value because it is secret; and
(c) has been subject to reasonable steps under the circumstances, by the person lawfully in control of the information, to keep it secret;
"trade secret holder" means any person lawfully in control of a trade secret;
"UPOV 1991" means the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, done at Paris on 2 December 1961, as revised at Geneva on 19 March 1991;
"WCT" means the WIPO Copyright Treaty, done at Geneva on 20 December 1996;
"WIPO" means the World Intellectual Property Organization;
for greater certainty, "work" includes a cinematographic work, photographic work, and computer program; and
"WPPT" means the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, done at Geneva on 20 December 1996.
2. For the purposes of Article 15.8 (National Treatment) and Article 15.31 (Procedures for the Recognition and Protection of Geographical Indications):
"a national" means, in respect of the relevant right, a person of a Party that would meet the criteria for eligibility for protection provided for in the agreements listed in Article 15.7 (International Agreements) or the TRIPS Agreement.
Article 15.2. Objectives
The protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights should contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations.
Article 15.3. Principles
1. A Party may, in formulating or amending its laws and regulations, adopt measures necessary to protect public health and nutrition, and to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance to their socio-economic and technological development, provided that those measures are consistent with the provisions of this Chapter.
2. Appropriate measures, provided that they are consistent with the provisions of this Chapter, may be needed to prevent the abuse of intellectual property rights by right holders or the resort to practices which unreasonably restrain trade or adversely affect the international transfer of technology.
Article 15.4. Understandings In Respect of this Chapter
Having regard to the underlying public policy objectives of national systems, the Parties recognise the need to:
(a) promote innovation and creativity;
(b) facilitate the diffusion of information, knowledge, technology, culture, and the arts; and
(c) foster competition and open and efficient markets, through their respective intellectual property systems, while respecting the principles of transparency and due process, and taking into account the
interests of relevant stakeholders, including right holders, service providers, users, and the general public.
Article 15.5. Nature and Scope of Obligations
1. The Parties affirm their existing rights and obligations with respect to each other under the TRIPS Agreement.
2. The Parties recognise the importance of adequate, effective and balanced protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, while ensuring that measures to enforce intellectual property rights do not themselves become barriers to legitimate trade.
3. Each Party shall give effect to this Chapter. A Party may, but shall not be obliged to, provide more extensive protection for, or enforcement of, intellectual property rights under its law than is required by this Chapter, provided that such protection or enforcement does not contravene this Chapter. Each Party shall be free to determine the appropriate method of implementing this Chapter within its own legal system and practice.
Article 15.6. Understandings Regarding Certain Public Health Measures
1. The Parties affirm the Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. In particular, the Parties have reached the following understandings regarding this Chapter:
(a) the Parties affirm the right to fully use the flexibilities as duly recognised in the Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health;
(b) the Parties agree that this Chapter does not and should not prevent a Party from taking measures to protect public health; and
(c) the Parties affirm that this Chapter can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of each Party's right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all.
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 15.7. International Agreements
Each Party affirms that it has ratified or acceded to the following agreements:
(a) TRIPS Agreement;
(b) Paris Convention;
(c) Berne Convention;
(d) Rome Convention;
(e) WCT;
(f) WPPT;
(g) Marrakesh Treaty;
(h) Madrid Protocol;
(i) Nice Agreement;
(j) Singapore Treaty;
(k) Budapest Treaty;
(l) UPOV 1991;
(m) PCT; and
(n) PLT.
Article 15.8. National Treatment
1. In respect of all categories of intellectual property covered in this Chapter, each Party shall accord to nationals of the other Party treatment no less favourable than it accords to its own nationals with regard to the protection (1) of intellectual property rights subject to the exceptions already provided for in, respectively, the Paris Convention, the Berne Convention, the Rome Convention, the WPPT, and the TIPRIC. In respect of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organisations, this obligation only applies in respect of the rights provided under this Agreement.
2. A Party may derogate from paragraph 1 in relation to its judicial and administrative procedures, including requiring a national of the other Party to designate an address for service of process in its territory, or to appoint an agent in its territory, provided that this derogation is:
(a) necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations that are not inconsistent with this Chapter; and
(b) not applied in a manner that would constitute a disguised restriction on trade.
3. Paragraph 1 does 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 15.9. Transparency
1. Each Party shall endeavour to publish online its laws, regulations, procedures, and administrative rulings of general application concerning the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
2. Each Party shall, subject to its law, endeavour to publish online information that it makes public concerning applications for trade marks, geographical indications, registered designs, patents, and plant variety rights. (2) (3)
3. Each Party shall, subject to its law, publish online information that it makes public concerning registered or granted trade marks, geographical indications, designs, patents, and plant variety rights, sufficient to enable the public to become acquainted with those registered or granted rights.(4)
Article 15.10. 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 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.
2. Unless otherwise 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 has fallen into the public domain in its territory.
3. This Chapter does not give rise to obligations in respect of acts that occurred before the date of entry into force of this Agreement.
Article 15.11. Exhaustion of Intellectual Property Rights
Nothing in this Agreement prevents a Party from determining whether or under what conditions the exhaustion of intellectual property rights applies under its legal system.
Article 15.12. Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions
The Parties affirm their commitment to work together through discussion and by the exchange of information at the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore.
Section B. Cooperation
Article 15.13. Contact Points for Cooperation
Each Party may designate and notify the other Party of one or more contact points for the purpose of cooperation under this Section.
Article 15.14. Cooperation
The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate on the subject matter covered by this Chapter, including through appropriate coordination, and exchange of information between the relevant agencies of the Parties. The areas of cooperation may include:
(a) the establishment of arrangements between each Party's respective collecting societies;
(b) engagement with SMEs regarding the use, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights which may include public-private engagement with SMEs;
(c) education and awareness relating to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights;
(d) cooperation on aspects of intellectual property policy and law with the aim of supporting the development and deployment of environmental and low-emissions technologies, clean and renewable energy and enabling infrastructure, and energy-efficient goods and services;
(e) best practices, projects, and programmes aimed at reducing intellectual property rights infringement, including:
(i) coordination to prevent exports of counterfeit goods, including with other countries;
(ii) sharing of experience of intellectual property rights enforcement between customs, law enforcement and judicial bodies;
(iii) public education and awareness activities on the impact of intellectual property infringement; and
(iv) voluntary stakeholder initiatives to reduce intellectual property infringement, including over the internet; and
(f) activities for improving the international intellectual property regulatory framework.
Article 15.15. Committee on Intellectual Property Rights
1. The Parties hereby establish a Committee on Intellectual Property Rights ("IPR Committee"), composed of government representatives of each Party.
2. The IPR Committee shall consider matters relating to the implementation and operation of this Chapter, including consultations and reviews under Articles 15.32 (System and Standard of Protection for Geographical Indications), 15.33 (Protection of Geographical Indications), and 15.34 (Consultations on Geographical Indications).
3. The IPR Committee shall:
(a) exchange information, pertaining to intellectual property rights matters, including how intellectual property protection contributes to innovation, creativity, economic growth, and employment, and this may include information relating to:
(i) developments in domestic and international intellectual property law and policy;
(ii) economic benefits related to trade and other analysis of the contributions arising from the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights;
(iii) intellectual property issues particularly relevant to SMEs including affordable and accessible justice; science, technology, and innovation activities; and to the generation, transfer, and dissemination of technology;
(iv) approaches for reducing the infringement of intellectual property rights, as well as effective strategies for removing the underlying incentives for infringement; and
(v) implementation of multilateral intellectual property agreements, such as those concluded or administered under the auspices of WIPO;
(b) promote collaborative operations in customs and exchange of best practices;
(c) report its findings and the outcomes of its discussions to the Joint Committee; and
(d) carry out other functions as may be delegated by the Joint Committee.
4. The IPR Committee shall, in relation to geographical indications:
(a) enter into consultations and conduct reviews pursuant to Articles 15.32 (System and Standard of Protection for Geographical Indications), 15.33 (Protection of Geographical Indications), and 15.34 (Consultations on Geographical Indications);
(b) report the outcomes of those consultations and reviews to the Joint Committee;
(c) monitor the implementation of amendments to this Agreement, pursuant to Section D (Geographical Indications); and
(d) provide a forum for coordination and exchange of views on issues related to Section D (Geographical Indications).
5. The IPR Committee shall meet as necessary to carry out its functions pursuant to Articles 15.32 (System and Standard of Protection for Geographical Indications), 15.33 (Protection of Geographical Indications), and 15.34 (Consultations on Geographical Indications); and otherwise shall meet within one year after the date of entry into force of this Agreement and thereafter as agreed by the Parties.
Article 15.16. Patent Cooperation and Work Sharing
1. The Parties recognise the importance of improving the quality and efficiency of their respective patent registration systems as well as simplifying and streamlining the procedures and processes of their respective patent offices to the benefit of all users of the patent system and the public as a whole.
2. Further to paragraph 1, the Parties shall endeavour to cooperate between their respective patent offices to facilitate the sharing and use of search and examination work of the Parties. This may include:
(a) making search and examination results available to the patent office of the other Party (5); and
(b) exchanging information on quality assurance systems and quality standards relating to patent examination.
3. In order to reduce the complexity and cost of obtaining the grant of a patent, the Parties shall endeavour to cooperate to reduce differences in the procedures and processes of their respective patent offices.
Article 15.17. Public Domain
The Parties recognise the importance of a rich and accessible public domain.
Article 15.18. Cooperation In the Area of Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources
1. The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate through their respective agencies responsible for intellectual property, or other relevant institutions, to enhance the understanding of issues connected with traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, and genetic resources.