8. Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) has not historically formed part of free trade agreements (FTAs). The North American Free Trade Agreement was the first FTA to incorporate significant IP provisions, and the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) captures advances in IP policy established in the intervening 30 years as result of other multilateral agreements, including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The structure of the USMCA’s IP chapter, Chapter 20, is typical of IP chapters within these other trade agreements, but goes further in setting minimum standards for IP protection and requiring continued harmonization efforts. Canada’s reputation for taking a balanced approach to IP will cause the USMCA IP chapter to set a new baseline for North American IP protection as future trade agreements are negotiated and may set new norms for global IP protection that persist for decades to come.