The UK has successfully concluded talks to join the CPTPP – but what does this mean for intellectual property?

The UK Government in the early hours of today successfully concluded talks to accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The CPTPP is a free trade agreement that currently includes 11 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. It aims to reduce barriers to trade and investment among its members by eliminating tariffs on goods and services, establishing common rules and standards, and promoting regulatory coherence.

One of the key benefits to the IP landscape is that it includes provisions which protect a wide range of IP rights, including patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, and geographical indications and a commitment to enforce these rights, which helps to create a more level playing field for businesses and promotes innovation and creativity.

Joining the CPTPP will also ensure that the UK's IP rights are protected in the other member countries and will provide a mechanism for resolving disputes related to IP.

The UK already meets - and in many ways exceeds - the standards set by CPTPP for intellectual property. So innovative and creative UK businesses seeking to do business in CPTPP countries can look forward to standards across the trading bloc being raised in line with ours.

But the most important IP aspect of this deal is that the government has stood by its public commitment to respect the UK’s important existing international obligations. CIPA views this as a significant victory for UK diplomacy and negotiating.

Before negotiations started 18 months ago, CIPA raised with government that acceding to the CPTPP and its IP provisions in full could place at risk the UK’s vitally important membership of the European Patent Office (EPO). The CPTPP requires its members to have a grace period for patents. But the treaty governing EPO membership, the European Patent Convention (EPC), does not include a grace period.

Independent financial analysis has shown that the UK patent profession generates around ￡1billion gross value added p.a. to the UK economy. A majority of this revenue is generated by UK patent attorneys representing clients (many from CPTPP members states) before the EPO.?

UK government negotiators successfully persuaded CPTPP member states to agree to protect the UK’s continued membership of the European Patent Convention (EPC) while acceding to the treaty.

We thank the government and Department for Business and Trade for listening to us and congratulate them on acceding to such a major trade agreement while preserving the UK’s existing – and vitally important - international obligations around intellectual property.