+ - US firms are no longer the major benefit protectionist IP policies of Congress->
Submitted
by
Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Slashdot had earlier reported on what appeared to be a positive response from the Obama administration on cellphone usage.
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/03/04/1942235/white-house-urges-reversal-of-ban-on-cell-phone-unlocking
Apparently, the Obama administration may not be able to do anything about it. We have signed away their rights under an FTA with Korea.
Lawyer Jonathan Band, who works for the Association of Research Libraries writes:
"The White House position, however, may be inconsistent with the U.S. proposal in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and existing obligations in the KoreaU.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) and other free trade agreements to which the United States is a party. This demonstrates the danger of including in international agreements rigid provisions that do not accommodate technological development."
You can read more about this issue on a short eight page legal primer by Jonathan Band:
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/band-cell-phone-unlocking-dmca-08mar13.pdf
On an interesting note the US KOREA FTA is possibly inconsistent with our domestic patent/drug law on the Hatch-Waxman Act as well. The FTA requires us to grant injunctions until the patent is invalidated as opposed to thirty months under current domestic law."
Link to Original Source
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/03/04/1942235/white-house-urges-reversal-of-ban-on-cell-phone-unlocking
Apparently, the Obama administration may not be able to do anything about it. We have signed away their rights under an FTA with Korea.
Lawyer Jonathan Band, who works for the Association of Research Libraries writes:
"The White House position, however, may be inconsistent with the U.S. proposal in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and existing obligations in the KoreaU.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) and other free trade agreements to which the United States is a party. This demonstrates the danger of including in international agreements rigid provisions that do not accommodate technological development."
You can read more about this issue on a short eight page legal primer by Jonathan Band:
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/band-cell-phone-unlocking-dmca-08mar13.pdf
On an interesting note the US KOREA FTA is possibly inconsistent with our domestic patent/drug law on the Hatch-Waxman Act as well. The FTA requires us to grant injunctions until the patent is invalidated as opposed to thirty months under current domestic law."
Link to Original Source
US firms are no longer the major benefit protectionist IP policies of Congress More Login
US firms are no longer the major benefit protectionist IP policies of Congress