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 receive an interagency review and if enough evidence is collected, the case is brought to the attention of the Ministry of Commerce through our trade facilitation office in Beijing. The first case passed to the Chinese was from the NBA and without prompting was brought up to Secretary Evans by Vice Premier Wu Yi at their meeting this January.

In November 2004, the Cyprus police formed a dedicated unit specializing in intellectual property rights enforcement.

In November 2004, Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade co-sponsored an IPR Roundtable that brought together 80 rights holders, Korean Government officials, academics, and lawyers to discuss the legal and enforcement challenges of protecting IP in the digital age. U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill and Korea's Trade Minister Kim Hyun-Chong delivered keynote addresses and senior National Assemblyman Lee Jong-Kul emphasized the importance of IPR protection during a speech.

In November 2004, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Commerce and Industry seized 32,000 DVDs and CDs were seized from Fsanta Musica Publications.

In November 2004, Nicaragua established a collective action society named Nicautor, which was authorized in December 2003 by Nicaragua's National Assembly. Nicautor is expected to strengthen the collection of copyright royalties for both foreign and Nicaraguan authors, especially of recorded works, and have the legal authority to bring lawsuits on behalf of member artists.

In Thailand during November and December 2004, the Royal Thai Police conducted dozens of factory and warehouse raids, seizing millions of pirate optical discs and decommissioning several replication machines used for copyright infringement.

In Vietnam during November 2004, Inspectors from Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI), Ministry of Science and Technology and the Economic Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security raided two large computer suppliers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Kazakhstan became party to the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty on November 12, 2004.

In Nigeria on November 23, 2004, the Federal High Court of Enugu State issued an interim injunction against several firms infringing a Honeywell International trademark for spark plugs. The court warned all distributors, dealers, and retailers in Nigeria that the unauthorized use of Honeywell's "Auto lite" trademark is illegal and constitutes an offense punishable by fine or imprisonment.

Bhutan became party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works on November 25, 2004.

December