Page:Special 301 Report 1997.pdf/17

 : Although Singapore has a good record of protecting intellectual property, its copyright law is not TRIPs consistent. Outstanding issues include lack of rental rights for sound recordings and software, inadequate protection against making bootleg copies of musical performances, the scope of copyright protection for cinematographic works and overly broad exceptions from copyright protection. Singapore's level of economic development is sufficiently advanced to expect TRIPs implementation as a developed country. We would reconsider this designation if Singapore modified its copyright law to comply with TRIPS and maintained adequate enforcement against piracy and counterfeiting.


 * has not implemented the TRIPS obligation to provide provisional relief in civil enforcement proceedings. Courts must be granted the ability to order unannounced raids to determine whether infringement is taking place, and to either seize allegedly infringing products as evidence or to order that allegedly infringing activities be stopped pending the outcome of a civil infringement case. The availability of provisional relief in the context of civil proceedings is of particular importance to the software industry as well as other industries dependent upon intellectual property protection. In addition, Swedish law permits official institutions such as Government Ministries and the Parliament to provide copies to the public of documents that are filed with them, even though such documents may be unpublished and protected by copyright law.

Although Thailand is poised to strengthen its intellectual property protection by launching an intellectual property and international trade court and by enacting a TRIPS-consistent patent law, the United States is seriously concerned about the continued decline in enforcement activity. Since the end of enforcement campaigns in 1993-1994, the numbers of arrests and seizures of illicit goods has plummeted. To date, no pirate nor counterfeiter has served time in prison for copying or selling protected goods, and fines and sentences remain too low to deter offenders. Thailand is still in the process of amending its patent law to comply with the TRIPS Agreement. We will again review Thailand's intellectual property protection efforts in an out-of-cycle review to be conducted in the fall of 1997.

Piracy of motion pictures and sound recordings has been largely eliminated in the UAE. Efforts to reduce software piracy have increased and the industry looks forward to continued progress. Nevertheless, efforts have not been sufficient enough to significantly reduce the level of illegal activity. UAE patent law exempts medicines and pharmaceutical compounds from protection and contains onerous compulsory licensing provisions. Concerns remain about reports of the unauthorized production of pharmaceutical products.


 * Enforcement of copyright law has improved over the past year with the creation of a special anti-piracy police unit, but overall IPR enforcement remains inadequate. Piracy and lack of border enforcement continue to be significant problems. Deficiencies in the patent and trademark regime include overly restrictive compulsory licensing provisions, working requirements, inadequate protection of pharmaceutical patents, and lack of protection against parallel imports. The United States will continue to monitor the implementation and enforcement of IPR provisions, patent and trademark application processes and implementation of the WTO's TRIPS Agreement.