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PROGRESS ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES

JANUARY – APRIL 1992

 The United States and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing China to improve protection for U.S. intellectual property, including providing strong protection for U.S. inventions and copyrighted works, computer software and sound recordings, and trade secrets. (January)

Japan amended its copyright law: to extend the protection of sound recordings to 50 years; to protect foreign sound recordings created between 1968 and 1978; and to extend to foreign producers the right to authorize and prohibit the rental of their sound recordings from one year from the date of release. (January)

The Commission of Cartagena (the Andean Pact) passed decision 313, which replaced decision 85 covering industrial property protection and provides for certain improvements in patent protection. (February)

India committed to the liberalizing of market access for motion pictures effective April 1, 1992. (February)

India announced that it will accord national treatment for the use of trademarks owned by foreign proprietors. India also announced that it will introduce legislation in parliament to provide statutory protection of service marks and clarify the condition under which the cancellation of a mark due to non-use is justified. (February)

Thailand's National Legislative Assembly enacted amendments to the patent law that will extend product patent protection to 20 years from filing. However, the law does not provide protection for existing patented products that have not yet been marketed in Thailand, and contains extremely broad compulsory licensing provisions. (February)

Poland submitted drafts of new copyright and patent legislation to Parliament. These proposals are flawed in a number of respects. (March)

<li>The United States and China establish bilateral copyright relations (March).</li>

<li>Greece submitted a new copyright law to its parliament. (April)</li> </ul>