ITALY
Italy will remain on the Watch List for 2007. The United States notes that Italy increased cooperation between its government agencies and the private sector in 2006, as well as expressed renewed interest in working more closely with the United States to improve IPR protection and enforcement in Italy. However, the U.S. copyright industries report that Italy maintains one of the highest overall piracy rates in Western Europe. Italy made some progress in 2006 through increased raids, seizures, and arrests of IPR infringers, notably through enforcement actions by the Guardia di Finanza, but there continues to be inadequate judicial awareness of IPR infringement as a serious crime and therefore a lack of judicial imposition of deterrent fines and jail sentences for criminal copyright and trademark infringers. The United States continues to observe wide variations in the effectiveness of IPR enforcement activities within Italy, particularly in the courts. The U.S. copyright industries report continuing high rates of copyright piracy in Italy, especially on the Internet. The United States urges Italy to make IPR enforcement a top priority, commit high-level support for IPR enforcement, provide deterrent IPR enforcement through increased convictions and jail sentences, dedicate more resources for law enforcement and the judiciary, and implement a plan to combat Internet piracy. The United States will continue to work with Italy on these issues, with the goal of improving IPR protection and enforcement.
JAMAICA
Jamaica will remain on the Watch List in 2007. The United States remains concerned over Jamaica's continued delay in enacting the Patents and Designs Act, which is intended to implement Jamaica's obligations under the TRIPS Agreement and to comply with the United States-Jamaica bilateral Intellectual Property Agreement. The United States urges the Government of Jamaica to reform its patent law as soon as possible to comply fully with international standards for patent protection.
KUWAIT
Kuwait will remain on the Watch List in 2007. The United States notes that the Kuwaiti government continued to take enforcement actions against IPR piracy and counterfeiting in 2006, including sustained raids on an ex officio basis against retail outlets, street vendors, and pirate cable operators, with subsequent referrals of criminal cases for prosecutions. The U.S. copyright industries report that the newly-formed IPR committee, including the Ministries of Justice, Interior, Information, and Commerce and Industry, coordinated its first major raid in 2006. The United States hopes that Kuwait will continue to improve its IPR regime by ensuring, for example, that Kuwait issues sentencing guidelines with strong penalties to encourage judicial authorities to impose deterrent penalties for IPR violations, and that it ratifies and implements the WIPO Internet Treaties. The United States is concerned that several key pieces of IPR legislation have been pending for many years, and hopes that Kuwait will expeditiously enact and implement this legislation in the near term. The United States will continue to work together with Kuwait on the passage of this IPR legislation. The United States hopes that the Kuwaiti Government, particularly those ministries with IPR enforcement responsibilities, will continue to build upon the progress made in 2006 to reduce the high levels of piracy in Kuwait. The United States will continue to address these issues under the United States-Kuwait Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
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