4
provide product patent protection to a number of classes of inventions, including pharmaceuticals. Hungary's patent law also has extensive provisions permitting grant of compulsory licensing. Many rounds of bilateral negotiations and consultations over more than two years have failed to result in a resolution of the U.S. concerns.
Korea: since 1990 the United States has faced a growing number of problems in the areas of enforcement, and protection for copyrights, trade secrets and integrated circuits. In the area of copyright, piracy of computer programs is a serious problem, with many large firms allegedly engaged in internal unauthorized copying of computer programs. In the sound recording and video areas, many licenses have been issued to reproduce and distribute these products based on false documents over the objections of the legitimate owners of the copyright in these works. Korea patent law also suffers from a number of deficiencies, including a short term of protection.
Philippines: The Philippines has been on the watch list since 1989 because of problems with enforcement, and inadequate protection for trademarks and copyrights. Philippine copyright law has provisions permitting the issuance of compulsory licenses on foreign books subject to a de minimis royalty payment. In addition, the law provides for very low penalties against infringers and does not clearly protect sound recordings. Piracy of U.S. sound recordings and motion pictures is extensive; in excess of sixty percent of the market for these products is occupied by pirated copies. In the trademark area, counterfeiting is rampant and penalties are ineffective.
Poland: Poland was placed on the priority watch list because piracy of U.S. copyrighted works is acute and Polish intellectual property laws do not provide adequate levels of protection. Poland has not introduced copyright or patent legislation consistent with its treaty obligations under the bilateral Business and Economic Agreement which would address U.S. concerns.
Turkey was placed on the priority watch list because U.S. companies have encountered severe patent and copyright problems in Turkey. Over the years we have held discussions which have yielded promises for improvement, but little by way of action. While Turkey is proceeding with reform of both the patent and the copyright laws, and has recently held constructive consultations with the U.S., both proposals are still in the draft stages.
WATCH LIST
In reviewing the practices of all of our trading partners, the USTR has decided that 22 of those trading partners should be placed or retained on the Watch List for special attention (rather than be otherwise identified) because they maintain intellectual property
