I. INTRODUCTION

The research project in question, along with its corresponding website, is fashioned for a wide array of audiences, including policy makers and researchers, businesses and practitioners, lecturers and students who are in pursuit of deepening their understanding of the interplay between trade in goods/services and intellectual property (IP). The project introduces its audience to numerous interconnections between IP objects and products across a variety of economic sectors: from trademarks utilised ubiquitously by merchants to those that underpin services such as franchising; from patents and copyright assets instrumental in the creation of new products to commodified IP assets offered directly to the market. As an active participant in the international trade system, New Zealand's regulatory strategies concerning IP and trade rules, both domestically and internationally, are significant due to these interconnections. Firstly, a discordance in the regulation of IP and trade could potentially stifle innovation and erode the international competitiveness of New Zealand's companies. Secondly, inconsistencies in IP and trade regulations could perturb the domestic market competition, thus potentially putting New Zealand at risk of breaching its commitments under Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Therefore, the identification, analysis, and interpretation of these links between IP and trade are of critical importance, especially when prioritising inclusive and sustainable trade outcomes for New Zealand. here

1. Context Behind the IP–Services Linkages?

As an economy heavily reliant on trade, New Zealand has consistently generated a minimum of 20% of its GDP from exports since 1974 (The World Bank 2022a), and no less than 51% from trade in services (The World Bank 2022b). As a result, international trade has consistently been a cornerstone of the national policy agenda, with each successive government attempting to enforce its own interpretation of a golden rule for New Zealand's trade policy (Parker 2018; MFAT 2018; MFAT 2021). However, adherence to the international rules-based system is a common thread found in all modern New Zealand trade strategies. This adherence incentivises New Zealand to engage in multilateral and plurilateral negotiations to secure its national trade objectives within intricate trade frameworks.

As a consequence, over the past five years, New Zealand has signed and ratified four Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) such as the 📄 New Zealand–United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement, the 📄 Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the 📄 Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and the 📄 Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). It has also upgraded three FTAs: the 📄 Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) to 📄 PACER Plus, 📄 New Zealand–Korea Free Trade Agreement, and 📄 New Zealand–China Free Trade Agreement. More FTAs are in the pipeline, particularly the anticipated 📄 New Zealand–European Union Free Trade Agreement expected to be signed in 2023, all set to contribute to New Zealand's economy. These agreements, to varying extents, address issues related to IP and trade, and some necessitate amendments to New Zealand's domestic laws to fulfil its international commitments. However, they often overlook the significance of IP rules for market access and do not meaningfully address the fundamental interdependence of IP protection and trade. This oversight can lead to inconsistencies in the domestic regulation of IP rights and trade, resulting in de facto non-tariff barriers.

2. Policy Conundrum of IP and Trade Interdependence

A majority of international trade agreements, including those that New Zealand is party to, adopt the long-standing concept of a "single undertaking", rooted in the Marrakesh Agreement 1994. This concept treats IP and trade issues as separate entities but necessitates commitments to be fulfilled as a comprehensive package. For instance, the recent Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that became operational on 31 May 2023 between New Zealand and the United Kingdom addresses IP, cross-border trade in services, trade in certain service sectors, and digital trade in separate chapters, each of which does not directly address interdisciplinary issues.

For example, while the IP chapter generally prohibits "practices which unreasonably restrain trade or adversely affect the international transfer of technology" (art 17.3(2)), other chapters provide no guidance on how IP rights themselves might impact the market access package. Such scenarios can occur when standard essential patents, or industry-essential copyrights, disrupt market access for New Zealand companies overseas or result in discriminatory preferences for them domestically. Although competition law may be applicable in these situations, and the New Zealand-United Kingdom FTA contains a dedicated chapter on antitrust relations and cooperation, issues can arise when domestic competition laws diverge and a conflict of jurisdiction ensues in the absence of a dispute resolution procedure (ch 8, art 18.8).

This set of conditions is applicable to all of New Zealand's trade agreements, rendering current FTAs ill-prepared to handle IP-related market access barriers. Traditionally, FTAs treat IP as a set of preventive standards against third parties, while trade commitments combine both prohibitive and market access rules. This approach fails to recognise that IP rights are the subject matter of service supply, resulting in market-distorting regulations that warrant the attention of scholars and policy makers.

3. Outcomes of the IP–Services Project

First and foremost, finding a solution necessitates the acknowledgement of a policy problem related to IP-related market access issues for trade in goods and services. Therefore, the primary objective is to foster awareness and initiate discussions about the interconnections between IP and trade. To this end, a chart has been created to visually represent this complex situation, illustrating the qualitative links between IP objects and service sectors from New Zealand's Schedule of Specific Commitments and the United Nations Central Product Classification (CPC v2.1). - >While the project focuses on both trade in goods and services, it is the services sector that functions as trade pipelines operating under both the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Therefore, when considering trade issues related to tangible and intangible assets, they are examined in the context of services regulation.

Second, the development of a solution requires a clear understanding of the problem at hand. To this end, an overview of the questions at issue and analysis of four cases based on the visualised linkages is offered. These cases illustrate what IP-related market access issues might look like. Starting with the [1](B) Computer and Related Services sector, the inclusivity of scheduled services sectors and their dependency on specific IP objects such as software is discussed. Following this, a deep dive into the [2](D) Audiovisual Services sector explores the IP-related market conditions that arise from regulatory distortions in the video streaming sector. The project then examines the [11](C) Air Transport Services and [11](F) Commercial Road Transport sectors in the context of the mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) business model and its reliance on IP. Finally, it assesses the Human Health Services sector and investigates the effects of enforced IP standards on cross-border trade in the absence of commitments in a scrutinised services sector.

4. Outline