INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Ustr Delegation Discusses Ipr in Moscow

Published: Mon 28 Jul 2008 01:26 PM
VZCZCXRO7668
RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #2172/01 2101326
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281326Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9204
INFO RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 5017
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 2902
RUEHYG/AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 3261
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 002172
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/RUS, EEB/TPP/IPE
STATE PLS PAS USTR SMCCOY, JGROVES, PBURKEHEAD
USDOC FOR 4231 FOR ITA/MAC/ORUE, WPAUGH, SWILSON
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR RS
SUBJECT: USTR Delegation Discusses IPR in Moscow
This message is sensitive but unclassified and is
not intended for Internet distribution.
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Summary
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1. (SBU) A USTR delegation, led by AUSTR for
Intellectual Property and Innovation Stanford McCoy,
visited Moscow June 23-24 for meetings with GOR officials
and industry representatives on IPR protection and
enforcement. USTR focused on implementation of the U.S.
? Russia IPR side letter, and in particular, protection
for undisclosed data for registration of pharmaceuticals.
End summary.
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USTR Message: Keep the Focus on IPR
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2. (SBU) AUSTR for Intellectual Property and Innovation
Stanford McCoy, Chief Counsel for Legal Affairs Catherine
Field and Director for Europe and Middle East Trade Paul
Burkhead, visited Moscow June 21-25 for discussions with
rights holders and GOR officials responsible for IPR
protection and enforcement. Concerned about loss of
momentum on IPR amidst a transitioning government, the
USTR delegation focused on progress on implementation of
the U.S. - Russia IPR side letter, part of a bilateral
agreement with Russia signed in 2006.
3. (SBU) The delegation specifically raised with GOR
officials the need for better coordination on IPR between
government ministries and agencies. The delegation also
expressed concern about enforcement efforts, the need for
transparency in the upcoming tender to accredit
collecting societies, amendments to Part IV of the Civil
Code related to TRIPs compliance, and efforts to amend
the Law on Medicines.
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Meeting with Duma
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4. (SBU) In his meeting with the USTR delegation, Duma
Member and Chairman for the Committee on Culture Grigory
Ivliev, largely responsible for enactment of Part IV of
the Civil Code, appeared well briefed on all areas of
IPR, including enforcement issues. He noted that the
Duma, in addition to working with the Ministry of Culture
to see that Part IV of the Civil Code is correctly
implemented, is also working with the Ministry of
Internal Affairs (MVD) on the application of Russia's
criminal law to combat piracy.
5. (SBU) USTR noted the need for greater focus on
enforcement and that the MVD needs to create a special
unit responsible for Internet piracy. Ivliev agreed that
enforcement is problematic, but commented that new
authority provided to law enforcement bodies by Part IV
should help. USTR commented that nevertheless, pirates
quickly adapt to counter-piracy measures, and that the
U.S. and Russia need to work together to protect
innovative and creative industries.
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Collecting Societies and Internet Piracy
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6. (SBU) Alexander Kibovksi, Head of newly created
Federal Service for the Protection of Culture
(RosOkhranKultura) joined Ministry of Culture officials
to discuss with USTR how plans are progressing to
determine which ministries and agencies will be
responsible for the implementation of various pieces of
Russia's copyright-related commitments in the IPR side
letter, as well as future plans for the U.S. - Russia IPR
Working Group. USTR raised the need for updated
enforcement statistics, and noted that "getting a
positive enforcement message" back to Washington is
important.
7. (SBU) Kibovski explained that RosOkranKultura is now
responsible for some enforcement efforts and for
accreditation of collecting societies. He highlighted
MOSCOW 00002172 002 OF 002
that his agency, along with the Ministry of Culture,
would oversee the destruction of 2 million seized
counterfeit discs (confirmed in press reports later that
week), and planned to conduct tenders in August to
accredit two of the six categories of collecting
societies, but did not name which categories would be
accredited. Both the Ministry of Culture and
RosOkrankultura claimed no responsibility for preventing
internet piracy, saying that function rests with the
Federal Supervisory Service for Mass Communications
(Rossvyaznadzor), headed by Boris Boyarskov.
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Progress on Data Protection
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8. (SBU) The USTR delegation had constructive
discussions with GOR officials on a draft amendment to
the Law on Medicines which would implement Russia's
commitment to provide 6 years of protection for tests and
other data submitted to register pharmaceutical patents.
The delegation met with officials from the Ministry of
Health and with the Federal Service for Health and Social
Development (Roszdravnadzor) to discuss how amendments to
the Law on Health would be implemented by Russian
regulatory authorities. Discussion focused on
clarification of a provision in the amendment, which
would allow the use of data published in "dedicated"
journals, subject to a 6-year prohibition, without the
permission of the entity owning the data. (Comment:
Although GOR officials said the draft amendment would be
submitted immediately to the Presidential Administration
for approval, and then forwarded to the Duma,
representatives of pharmaceutical companies report that
the Ministry of Health circulated a different draft for
comments shortly after the delegation left Moscow.)
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Industry Views
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9. (SBU) IPR industry representatives outlined several
areas of concern during a briefing with USTR, noting in
particular the need for an "IPR one-stop shop" within the
GOR - one agency or government official responsible for
IPR. The representative from IFPI (representing the
Recording Industry Association of America) called for a
decrease in monetary thresholds to make IPR cases easier
to prosecute. He also noted that problems remain with
forensic analysis results of pirated goods.
10. (SBU) The Russian Anti-Piracy Association (RAPO),
representing the Motion Picture Association, warned that
as access to broadband Internet becomes more prevalent in
Russia, Internet piracy of movies will likely increase.
They noted that Part IV of the Civil Code does not
provide any authority to sell movies legally for
download, nor does it provide for the creation of a
collecting society for the film industry. Business
Software Alliance representatives praised the Embassy for
organizing a recent seminar to raise GOR awareness of the
need for a corporate criminal liability law that could
hold companies, not just individuals, responsible for IPR
violations.
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Comment
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7. (SBU) We expect the pace of IPR legislative
improvements and enforcement efforts will pick up
again in early fall after the summer vacation lull,
particularly if we can agree with the Ministry of
Culture on dates for a next IPR Working Group,
tentatively planned for end-September.
RUBIN
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