The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is “fully compatible” with EC...
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is “fully compatible” with EC law, even if it’s not drafted in exactly the same terms, the EU Directorate General-Trade said Thursday in a detailed answer to a group of well-known IP law experts that…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
had questioned ACTA. EU policies would not have to be modified, DG Trade wrote. The U.S. administration has said the same thing about U.S. law and, since ACTA would not be ratified by Congress, it would not restrain Congress in future initiatives to change U.S. intellectual property law. The EU academics had said in January that ACTA deviates from EU law, for example by setting criminal penalties. The European Parliament is expected to vote on ACTA later this year. Some EU countries have said their national parliaments also will have to ratify ACTA. Meanwhile, requests to access a variety of documents on the history and legal nature of the agreement have been rejected by DG Trade and by the U.S. Trade Representative. An ACTA study by the Congressional Research Service for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., for which Knowledge Ecology International filed an appeal to the U.S. District Court was released by Wyden. DG Trade Secretary Karel De Gucht refused to make public the preparatory documents of ACTA as requested by EP member Francoise Castex.