An esoteric intellectual property right granted to a small pastry product leads us to the epicentre of the geopolitics of Brexit.

Britain's international trade Minister Liam Fox let slip last week in a BBC Radio interview that his US trade talks will include intellectual property rights (IPR). The inclusion of IPR is not a surprise to seasoned watchers of the international trade agenda, but the implications for British businesses might be. Brexit means that some IP rights will fall away, such as geographical indicators which protect local British products like the Cornish pasty. There will be political choices for the British government. Those choices will be shaped by the wider geo-political forces between the EU and the US.

The European Union has warned the United States not to make last-minute demands for measures on intellectual property rights, as the two attempt to conclude the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Parnership (TTIP ). In particular, the EU has stressed that some US demands would 'have a limited chance of being accepted'.

The position on IPR in TTIP has come to light in the documents leaked to Greenpeace, and revealed to the German media on Tuesday this week.

Within the documents made public by Greenpeace was

Part 3 of a series of 3 postings on the leaked EU TTIP discussion document

It has emerged that the rules that protect Internet service providers and hosting companies from content liability are being tabled for discussion in talks about the proposed EU -EU trade deal (TTIP) . The proposal was revealed in a leaked European Commission document published recently by the German newspaper Die Zeit. Since any move by the EU to on intermediary liability legislation will be highly constroversial, it is interesting that the Commission is putting it forward for TTIP talks.

Part 2 of a series of 3 postings on the leaked EU TTIP discussion document

Just as the European Parliament is about to vote on new data protection rules, TTIP touches on another aspect of privacy.

Has a discussion on communications traffic data slipped into the EU-US trade talks (TTIP)? It seems as though it might have done. Iptegrity previously reported on the re-work of telecoms law that is signalled by a series of provisions in a European Commission document that is to form the basis of discussion at the TTIP talks. Within that context, the issue has slipped in via a back door.

Part 1 of a series of 3 postings on the leaked EU TTIP discussion document

The European Union could give away unlimited rights to foreign telecoms companies to buy up rivals in Europe as part of the proposed new transatlantic trade deal (TTIP). This is one of an astonishing set of proposals revealed in a Commission document leaked by the German newspaper Die Zeit last week. The leaked document further indicates a possible re-write of the EU telecoms framework, outlining a 'mini' version of the EU Telecoms Package for discussion.