25 April 2008
U.S. Raises Concerns about IPR Piracy in Russia
USTR report also highlights Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asian nations
Following are excerpts from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) annual “Special 301” report, issued April 25, on the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights protection by U.S. trading partners. The full report is available on the USTR Web site.
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Russia
Russia will remain on the Priority Watch List in 2008. The United States will continue to monitor closely Russia’s progress on IPR protection and enforcement and to assess implementation of the November 19, 2006 bilateral agreement on intellectual property rights (“IPR Bilateral Agreement”).
Piracy and counterfeiting remain major concerns in Russia. The U.S. copyright industries estimate that they lost in excess of $1.4 billion in 2007 due to copyright piracy in Russia. The U.S. copyright industries continued to report that in 2007, Russia’s optical disc production capacity was far in excess of domestic demand, with pirated products being produced both for domestic consumption and export. Due to growing broadband penetration and the continued proliferation of pirate websites, the United States remains concerned about Internet piracy in Russia.
In spite of some improvements, weak enforcement against piracy and counterfeiting in Russia remains a serious problem. In 2007, Russian law enforcement authorities initiated raids on optical disc production facilities and retail sites, and investigations of Internet sites. However, prosecutions and adjudications of IP cases remain sporadic and inadequate; there is also a lack of transparency and a failure by courts to impose deterrent penalties for IPR violators.
The United States conducted an Out-of-Cycle Review in 2007 to encourage Russia to implement its commitments in the IPR Bilateral Agreement and evaluate further actions that Russia needs to take to improve protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. As part of the IPR Bilateral Agreement, Russia has committed to fight optical disc and Internet piracy, protect against unfair commercial use of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical products, deter piracy and counterfeiting through criminal penalties, strengthen border enforcement, and bring Russian laws into compliance with WTO and international IPR norms. Russia’s implementation of those IPR commitments will be essential to completing the final WTO accession process. While Russia has made some progress in implementation, additional work remains for Russia to fully implement its commitments under the IPR Bilateral Agreement.
Part IV of Russia’s Civil Code, which covers IPR, went into effect on January 1, 2008. Russia has pledged in the IPR Bilateral Agreement to ensure that Part IV and its other IPR measures will be fully consistent with the TRIPS Agreement upon Russia’s accession to the WTO. Russia has also committed to introduce legislation in the Duma to implement its TRIPS Agreement obligations that will take effect upon Russia’s accession. The United States is awaiting additional efforts by Russia in this area.
In addition to the multilateral work to ensure Russia’s compliance with the TRIPS Agreement and Russia’s other international IPR obligations, the United States continues to work with Russia on the enforcement of IPR and Russia’s compliance with its bilateral obligations through the United States – Russia Bilateral Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights. In addition, the United States is reviewing Russia’s status as a beneficiary country under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program.
Belarus
Belarus will remain on the Watch List in 2008. The United States remains concerned about Belarus’ delayed implementation of its intellectual property commitments under the U.S.-Belarus Trade Agreement. The United States encourages Belarus to strengthen its IPR laws, reduce piracy and counterfeiting levels, and increase its IPR enforcement efforts. Belarus reportedly plans to amend its copyright law in 2008, and the United States will continue to monitor Belarus’ progress to ensure that it provides adequate protection for sound recordings and pre-existing works and properly implements the WIPO Internet Treaties, which Belarus ratified in 1998. Belarus’ IP laws neither provide ex officio authority to allow police officials to initiate criminal copyright cases or for customs officials to seize illegal products at the border, nor provide for civil ex parte search procedures necessary to protect against end-user software piracy. The United States will work together with Belarus to strengthen its IPR laws.
Tajikistan
Tajikistan will remain on the Watch List in 2008. Tajikistan made progress passing IPR legislation this past year. The United States remains concerned, however, that Tajikistan has not yet fulfilled its IPR obligations under the U.S.-Tajikistan Bilateral Agreement, and encourages Tajikistan to take the necessary steps to fully implement the TRIPS Agreement as part of its ongoing efforts to join the WTO. In addition, Tajikistan continues to have a weak enforcement regime that lacks criminal penalties for IPR violations, ex officio authority to commence criminal cases, and civil ex parte search procedures necessary for effective enforcement against end-user pirates, among other important enforcement measures. The Tajik Customs Code also fails to provide customs officials with ex officio authority to suspend the release of suspected infringing materials at the border. Legal reforms are also needed, for example, in Tajikistan’s copyright law, which does not provide protection for sound recordings or pre-existing works. The United States also encourages Tajikistan to accede to and implement the WIPO Internet Treaties. The United States will continue to work with Tajikistan through the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement and the ongoing WTO accession negotiations to address deficiencies in its IPR laws and strengthen IPR protection and enforcement.
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan will remain on the Watch List in 2008. The United States remains concerned about Turkmenistan’s lack of progress on IPR issues and its lack of fulfillment of its IPR obligations under the United States-Turkmenistan Trade Agreement. For example, Turkmenistan has neither acceded to nor implemented the Berne Convention for the Protection of Artistic and Literary Works (Berne Convention), the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms (Geneva Phonograms Convention), or the WIPO Internet Treaties. Turkmenistan does not have a copyright law and does not provide clear criminal procedures or penalties for IPR infringement as required by the U.S.-Turkmenistan Trade Agreement. Its Customs Code does not provide ex officio authority to seize suspected infringing material at the border, and there are no known civil ex parte search procedures. The United States urges Turkmenistan to adopt the legal reforms that will bring Turkmenistan into compliance with its obligations under the bilateral United States-Turkmenistan Trade Agreement and to undertake enforcement activities that will help to strengthen its IPR regime.
Ukraine
Ukraine will be lowered to the Watch List in 2008. Ukraine made significant progress in 2006 and 2007 by passing IP legislation and regulations as part of its bid for accession to the WTO (the WTO approved Ukraine’s terms of accession in February 2008, and the deadline for parliamentary approval of the accession is July 4, 2008). Since adopting amendments to its optical disc law in 2005, Ukraine has continued to enforce against pirate optical disc manufacturing, and no evidence of pirate manufacturing has been detected in several years. The Government of Ukraine has continued to participate regularly in an Enforcement Cooperation Group with the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine and U.S. industry representatives. Despite these improvements, however, Ukraine needs to address numerous important IP issues, including full implementation of its new IP legislation; continuation of enforcement actions against optical disc factories; stronger border enforcement to address transshipment of illegal optical media produced in Russia and elsewhere; continued raids and arrests of IPR infringers, as well as follow through with vigorous prosecutions and imposition of deterrent-level sentences by courts; concrete actions to combat the growing problem of Internet piracy in Ukraine; ensuring that government ministries use only legal software; and curbing the production and distribution of pirated and counterfeit products throughout Ukraine, including in notorious markets in Ukraine. The United States will monitor Ukraine’s implementation of its 2006 Law on Medicines that provides protection against unfair commercial use of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical products to ensure that it fulfills its WTO obligations. The United States recognizes Ukraine’s improvements in 2006 and 2007 in IPR protection, while also recognizing that significant efforts need to be made to achieve further progress on IPR protection and enforcement. The United States will continue to work with Ukraine to ensure sustained progress on these IPR issues in a number of fora, including a new Trade and Investment Cooperation Agreement, the IPR Enforcement Cooperation Group, and the WTO.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan will remain on the Watch List in 2008. The United States remains concerned about Uzbekistan’s lack of progress on IPR issues. Although Uzbekistan passed a revised copyright law in 2006 and recently has started to close down shops that sell pirated products, numerous IPR deficiencies remain. Uzbekistan has acceded to the Berne Convention, but the United States notes its concern with Uzbekistan’s continuing reservation to Article 18 of the Convention, which requires that signatory countries provide copyright protection to pre-existing works. Uzbekistan does not provide protection for sound recordings or pre-existing works, and has not acceded to the Geneva Phonograms Convention or the WIPO Internet Treaties. In addition, IPR enforcement in Uzbekistan remains weak due to a lack of ex officio authority that would allow customs officials to seize infringing goods at the border, a lack of civil ex parte search procedures, and inadequate criminal penalties for IPR violations. The United States urges Uzbekistan to address these deficiencies in its IPR legal regime and to take immediate and effective measures to improve IPR enforcement. The United States will continue to work together with Uzbekistan on these outstanding IPR issues through discussions related to Uzbekistan’s bid for WTO accession and in the on-going review of Uzbekistan’s status as a beneficiary country under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program.
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
