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 database protection, ex parte relief, the lack of full retroactive protection for pre-existing copyrighted works, and copyright term extension. In addition, serious concerns have arisen over continuing book piracy in universities, street vendor sales of illegally copied DVDs, counterfeiting of consumer products, protection of pharmaceutical patents, and lack of coordination between Korean health and IPR authorities on pharmaceutical marketing approvals. Addressing these issues will continue to be a priority in bilateral discussions, including the U.S.-Korea Quarterly Trade Meetings.

KUWAIT

Kuwait has been elevated to the Priority Watch List this year due to its failure to address serious and rampant copyright infringement and failure to amend its copyright law. Furthermore, Kuwait has failed to implement the 2002 work plan that outlined the steps it would take to increase IPR enforcement. In fact, in 2003, enforcement efforts remained insufficient and penalties for infringement remained inadequate to deter offenders. Kuwait continues to have the worst retail optical disc piracy rate in the region as well as problems with corporate end-user piracy, hard-disc loading piracy, and cable piracy. We urge Kuwait to improve the situation by making public declarations at the highest level that piracy in Kuwait will not be tolerated, increasing the frequency of raids on suspected infringers, prosecuting offenders and amending its copyright and other intellectual property law to correct its deficiencies. Kuwait Customs created a special IPR unit in April 2004 and began taking some enforcement actions. This is a positive sign but measures to combat infringement need to continue over the long term. We will continue to address these issues under the U.S.-Kuwait Trade and Investment Framework Agreement signed in February 2004.

LEBANON

We commend the Lebanese government for some recent steps that it has taken to begin to address longstanding IPR problems. These measures include a crackdown on illegal cable operators, a large-scale raid on pirated DVDs, movement toward full legalization of government software, and increased ex officio inspections along the borders. In addition, the Lebanese Government in April issued new requirements for registration of pharmaceutical products that, if implemented, should help prevent the registration of unauthorized copies of patented U.S. pharmaceuticals. It is too early, however, to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures. At the present time, Lebanon continues to face problems in providing adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights. Problems persist with the widespread availability of pirated optical discs and rampant cable piracy. Registration of copycat pharmaceuticals has remained a serious issue, and ambiguous and unenforceable data exclusivity provisions remain causes for concern. Counterfeiting of trademarked goods including pharmaceutical products continues with little effort at deterrence. Furthermore, the judiciary remains slow and inefficient, and until recently there has been a general lack of sustained will in the government to improve IPR enforcement. Lebanon has also not yet joined the latest text of the Berne Convention or ratified the WIPO Copyright Treaty or the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. We urge the Lebanese Government to continue its efforts to address these problems and to ratify the WIPO Internet Treaties. The Lebanese Government's recent steps constitute its most serious efforts in some time to strengthen IPR protection. The United States will closely monitor these efforts in hopes that they will continue to the benefit of Lebanon's economy and our bilateral trade relationship.

PAKISTAN

Pakistan is one of the world's leading producers/exporters of pirated optical media of copyrighted sound recordings, motion pictures, business software, and published materials. In 2003, Pakistan remained the