Page:Special 301 Report 1995.pdf/9

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addressed these problems. The Administration will take appropriate action which could include trade measures based on the results of the review.

India was a "priority foreign country" from 1991–1993. In 1994, the Administration moved India to the "priority watch list," largely on the basis of positive amendments to its copyright law. However, implementing regulations governing the new copyright law have not been put in place and enforcement is not yet effective. As part of its implementation of the WTO agreements, India implemented the patent "mailbox" provisions of the TRIPs agreement. However, these provisions have not yet been passed by India's Parliament. Moreover, India's industrial property laws continue to fall short of providing adequate and effective protection. In particular, the Administration looks to India to enact modern patent and trademark legislation.

Japan  Despite conclusion of two patent-related agreements in 1994, patent-related problems continue, particularly with respect to the narrow scope and interpretation of patent claims in Japan. This practice has severely limited the ability of U.S. patent holders in a range of industries, particularly biotechnology, to acquire exclusive rights comparable to those available to Japanese patent holders in the United States. The U.S. and Japan have agreed to begin discussion of these issues in June. The status of these discussions will be reviewed in mid-December. Other continuing patent problems remain to be addressed as well, as does U.S. concern about enforcement against computer software piracy and retroactive copyright protection for sound recordings.

Korea  Major problems include large amounts of end-user software piracy, particularly by large conglomerates; lack of recognition of well-known trademarks; failure to protect pre-1987 works under the copyright law; lack of protection for trade secrets and software and motion picture import valuation. With respect to this last issue, Korean customs is valuing imports of software and video films on the basis of the full value of their content, rather than the medium, contrary to international practice. Concerns have also been expressed recently about consideration being given to permitting computer software decompilation.

Saudi Arabia has been kept on the "priority watch list", with an out-of-cycle review scheduled by October 1995. Saudi Arabia made considerable progress in intellectual property protection over the past year. It deposited its instruments of accession to the Universal Copyright Convention in April 1994, and protection for foreign works took effect on July 1, 1994. In recent months, Saudi Arabia has begun to take action enforcing copyright protection. It remains on the priority watch list in order to give the U.S. time to assess the ongoing effectiveness of these efforts in reducing the availability of pirated software, videos and sound recordings. Saudi Arabia's copyright law contains