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  Several trading partners have participated or supported participation in innovative mechanisms that enable government and private sector rights holders to voluntarily donate or license IPR on mutually-agreed terms and conditions. In these arrangements, parties use existing IPR to advance innovation and public policy goals. The United States was the first government in the world to share its patents with the Medicines Patent Pool, an independent foundation hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO), and hopes that additional public and private patent holders will explore voluntary licenses with the Medicines Patent Pool as one of many innovative ways to help improve the availability of medicines in developing countries. The patents that the United States shared were related to protease inhibitor medicines, primarily used to treat drug-resistant HIV infections. In addition, the United States, Brazil, and South Africa are providers in the WIPO Re:Search Consortium, a voluntary mechanism for making IPR and know-how available on mutually agreed-upon terms and conditions to the global health research community to find cures or treatments for neglected tropical diseases, and for malaria and tuberculosis. Other countries have joined as supporters.

Finally, a significant best practice is the active participation of government officials in capacity building efforts and in training. As further explained below, the United States strongly encourages foreign governments to make training opportunities available to their officials, and it actively engages with its trading partners in capacity building efforts both in the United States and abroad. 

Capacity Building Efforts

In addition to identifying concerns, this Report also highlights opportunities for the U.S. Government to work closely with trading partners to address those concerns. The U.S. Government collaborates with various trading partners on IPR-related training and capacity building around the world. Domestically and abroad, bilaterally, and in regional groupings, the U.S. Government remains engaged in building stronger, more streamlined, and more effective systems for the protection and enforcement of IPR.

Although many trading partners have enacted IPR legislation, a lack of criminal prosecutions and deterrent sentencing has reduced the effectiveness of IPR enforcement in many regions. These problems result from several factors, including a lack of knowledge of IPR law on the part of judges and enforcement officials, and insufficient enforcement resources. The United States welcomes steps by a number of trading partners to educate their judiciary and enforcement officials on IPR matters. The United States will continue to work collaboratively with trading partners to address these issues.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Office of Policy and External Affairs' Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA) offers programs in the United States and around the world to provide education, training, and capacity building on IPR protection and enforcement. These programs are offered to patent, trademark, and copyright officials, judges and prosecutors, police and customs officials, foreign policy makers, and U.S. rights holders. 16