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.  

Read more: IP Brexit: Will Liam Fox protect the Cornish pasty?

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

Read more: TTIP leaks: US warned on sensitive IPR issues

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.

Read more: TTIP EU-US trade ‘dialogue’ on ISP / web hosting liability