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DESCRIPTION BY COUNTRY OF EXISTING SITUATION AND MEASURES TAKEN
Priority Watch List
The Administration has decided to place eight trading partners on the priority watch list because the lack of adequate and effective intellectual property protection or market access in these countries is especially significant for U.S. interests. USTR will devote special attention to resolving these problems, many of which are longstanding. The trading partners are:
Brazil continues to fail to adequately protect intellectual property. Brazil was designated a "priority foreign country" in 1993 and a section 301 investigation was initiated. The Administration terminated that investigation and revoked Brazil's "priority foreign country" status in February, 1994 after the Government of Brazil described measures it was taking and would take to increase IPR protection. Legislation to modernize Brazil's patent law continues to remain under consideration in Congress; amendments to the copyright law have not been introduced, although computer software legislation was recently submitted. The Administration looks for Brazilian enactment of modern patent, trademark and copyright legislation. An "out-of-cycle" review will be completed to assess progress made in Brazil. The Administration will take appropriate action based on the findings of the review.
The European Union continues to deny equitable access to U.S. providers of television programming through the use of television broadcast quotas. In addition, certain EU member-states, France and Belgium, require the denial of national treatment to U.S. rights holders. Patent filing fees in the EU and in its member-states are extraordinarily expensive; fees associated with filing, issuance and maintenance of a patent over its life far exceed those in the United States. The patent "working requirement" in certain member states may discriminate against products manufactured outside the European Union.
Greece has not yet acted to stop motion picture and sound recording piracy, including widespread unauthorized broadcasts of protected films and T.V. programs by unlicensed television stations. Greece has also failed to enact a new broadcast law which would help address this problem. This problem led the Administration to elevate Greece to the "priority watch list" in November, 1994. Although a few actions were taken by the Greek Government against unauthorized broadcasts by unlicensed T.V. stations after this change in "special 301" listing, piracy still remains essentially unchecked. The Administration will maintain Greece on the "priority watch list" at this time. However, an "out-of-cycle" review will occur by October, by which time the Administration looks to Greece to have more aggressively
