Following the departure of the United States of America from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement discussion, Japan and other nations have made progress in Da Nang, Vietnam moving toward an adjusted version of the agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). This includes a freezing of some policies that, under US influence, would have adjusted intellectual property rules in countries like Japan.
For example, the US copyright laws give copyright for artistic works for seventy years after the decease of the creator of the work, whereas this is fifty years in Japan. With the withdrawal of US influence in the meetings under President Donald Trump, the proposal to have signatories like Japan lengthen the copyright to seventy years has fallen by the wayside (at least until and unless the US reenters the future agreement).
Beside the explicitly intellectual property-related changes in the CPTPP, the overall effect with liberalizing of trade means opportunities for various sectors around the Pacific, including, of course, products that inventors may want to promote in Japan.
(The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. For questions or inquiries, please contact us for more information.)
Taro Yaguchi
