post Monday March 18, 2013
Amid talks of the Pacific-Rim trade agreement, Abe Shinto, Japanese Prime Minister is expected to announce Japan’s intent to enter the negotiations on Friday. While some nations have indicated consent, Japan will need to receive approval from New Zealand, Australia and the US.
As the first nation to ratify ACTA, Japan has strong levels of intellectual property protection. The country’s strong IP may help the US pass the strong intellectual property provisions in the agreement. Like IPR Plaza reported yesterday, intellectual property remains to be one of the biggest hurdles in the talks.
Despite Japan’s IP strength, the US has pushed the country to reduce piracy rates, specifically digital piracy. The National Trade Estimate Report released April 2012 shows that the US has encouraged improvements to the Japanese internet liability laws to provide adequate protection of rights holder’s online among other specific recommendations.
Discussion: As a top protector of intellectual property, how do these demands affect Japanese-US relations? Is it likely that Japan will not receive approval to join the Pacific trade partnership?
Source: InfoJustice
Image source: Free Digital Photos
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