Commissioned for the CEIPI-ICTSD Series on Global Perspectives and Challenges for the Intellectual Property System, this article examines the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with a focus on the intellectual property norms it seeks to develop. It begins by briefly discussing the partnership’s historical origins and ongoing negotiations. It then examines the latest leaked draft of the RCEP intellectual property chapter, highlighting the key provisions concerning copyright and related rights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets and undisclosed information, and intellectual property enforcement. This article concludes by exploring three scenarios concerning the future of this chapter--namely, the lack of an intellectual property chapter, the inclusion of a TPP-like chapter and the eventual compromise on a TPP-lite chapter.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/peter_yu/231/