Genaesis Founder Signs the ITAC Report on the USMCA’s Intellectual Property Chapter

On October 25, 2018, Erin-Michael Gill signed ITAC-13’s addendum to its report on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, addressed to Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, the United States Trade Representative.

The committee’s assessment was that the agreement promotes the economic interests of the United States on intellectual property, while naming provisions it judged could have been stronger. On geographic indications it welcomed the new consultation requirements and the side letter clarifying protection for prior users, but objected to the exclusion of wines and spirits. On copyright it opposed Canada’s cultural carve-out as incompatible with a twenty-first-century agreement, and its notice-and-notice exception as falling below United States enforcement standards. It raised no objection to the amendments on trade secrets.

The addendum urged USTR to monitor implementation closely and to ensure each party had compliant national legislation in place before the agreement entered into force.

The report and its addendum are published on the Trade Representative’s site.