Compromise Eyed in TPP Talks on Intellectual Property

Tokyo, May 14 (Jiji Press)--Advanced countries taking part in Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations are considering shortening protection periods for drug development data in a compromise with emerging economies, it was learned Wednesday. Japan, the United States and other developed countries hope to set protection periods for data on advanced medicines, such as biotechnology drugs, at up to 12 years, with periods of around five years for other medicines, informed sources said. Emerging countries are demanding that development data for all medicines be disclosed early. The compromise plan is expected to help resolve disputes between advanced countries and emerging economies over intellectual property rights and speed up the overall TPP negotiations. On Tuesday, Japanese TPP minister Akira Amari said that "major differences are being ironed out" in the negotiations to make rules for protecting intellectual property rights. Copyright protection periods are another issue in the area of intellectual property rights. Such periods vary from country to country. Of the 12 countries in the TPP talks, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam have copyrights for novels and music that expire 50 years after the creator's death. Such copyrights expire after 70 years in the United States and 100 years in Mexico. TPP ministers hope to discuss intellectual property rights at their upcoming meeting in Singapore on May 19-20, after a four-day meeting of chief negotiators in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam through Thursday. But Japanese government officials suggested that the TPP negotiating countries still need more time on discussions for an agreement on intellectual property rights. END