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 COSTA RICA

Costa Rica will remain on the Watch List in 2009. During the implementation process of the United States-Central America–Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), Costa Rica passed legislation providing for stronger IPR protection and enforcement. The United States remains concerned, however, about weak IPR enforcement in Costa Rica, particularly with respect to copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting. The United States encourages the Government of Costa Rica to address the shortcomings in its IPR enforcement system by assigning higher priority and greater resources to combating piracy and counterfeiting, including to the Special IPR Prosecutor, and by seeking deterrent penalties. The United States will continue to monitor Costa Rica's compliance with IPR commitments made in connection with implementation of CAFTA-DR.

CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech Republic will remain on the Watch List in 2009, where it was placed as the result of an OCR in January 2008. The United States remains concerned about the significant quantity of pirated and counterfeit goods sold in retail markets on the Czech Republic's borders with Germany and Austria, particularly as some of these markets are located on government-owned property. We note progress by the Czech Customs Administration and Trade Inspectorate officials in patrolling these markets frequently, increasing raids and confiscations, and heightening attention to this problem by Czech IPR officials. Despite this progress, however, further enforcement action is needed, especially by revoking the licenses of businesses involved in illegal IPR activities. The United States urges the Czech Republic to continue efforts to implement its IPR Action Plan and to take concrete enforcement actions, including prosecutions and deterrent-level sentencing of IPR infringers, to reduce substantially the sale of pirated and counterfeit goods at these border markets. The Czech Republic passed a new criminal law in January 2009, which will hopefully result in higher criminal penalties and stronger IPR enforcement when it takes effect on January 1, 2010. The United States will continue to monitor this situation and work with the Czech Republic to address the border market and other IPR problems.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

The Dominican Republic will remain on the Watch List in 2009. While the Dominican Republic undertook legislative reforms to implement its commitments under CAFTA-DR that provided for stronger IPR protection and enforcement, the United States is concerned about weak enforcement of these laws. The United States encourages the Dominican Republic to enhance its enforcement efforts by providing resources for and greater coordination between law enforcement entities. The United States will continue to monitor the Dominican Republic's compliance with its bilateral and multilateral obligations to protect against unfair commercial use of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical products, and encourages the Dominican Republic to provide an effective system to prevent the issuance of marketing approvals for unauthorized copies of patented pharmaceutical products. The United States will also continue to monitor the Dominican Republic's compliance with its IPR obligations under CAFTA-DR.