Lucerna, Suiza
The interface between digital services trade and intellectual property rights (IPR) remains conceptually underdeveloped and structurally fragmented. While digital services trade depends on the free flow of data and information, IPRs operare by restricting acccss to thcm through exclusive cntitlcmcnts, crcating o.ninherent tension between these two regimes. Altho·1gh sorne polícy initiatives have sought to adapt JPRs to the digital environment, little attention has been devoted to the integration of IPRs within digital trade rulemaking, particularly under free trade agreements (FTAs). In this Article, 1 argue that reconceptualising the IP-digital services trade nexus requires more than reinforcing levels of IPR protection: it demands a recalibration of IPR that preserves space for the publíc domain. Yet, the declíning emphasis in the negotiation of IPR chapters in FTAs relative to the rise of digital trade provisions raises the question of whether digital trade chapters themselves should engage with IP issue,, particularly in an era of digital and Al-driven services.