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parte actions in civil enforcement proceedings. Courts must be granted the ability to order unannounced raids to determine whether infringement is taking place, and to either seize allegedly infringing products as evidence or to order that allegedly infringing activities be stopped pending the outcome of a civil infringement case. The availability of provisional relief in the context of civil proceedings is of particular importance to the software industry, as well as other industries dependent upon intellectual property protection. In addition, Denmark is not providing TRIPS-level protection for exclusive test data submitted in the marketing approval process.
Dominican Republic: has not made sufficient progress to address the lack of adequate and effective intellectual property protection since last year's review and is therefore being included on the Watch List. Dominican copyright and patent laws do not provide protection consistent with the TRIPs Agreement. The United States is especially concerned that TV piracy and piracy of computer software, video and audio tapes, and compact disc technologies continues with little enforcement action by the Dominican Government. Trademark enforcement is also inadequate, particularly regarding well-known trademarks. In addition, the Dominican patent law continues to be inadequate with respect to term of protection. Patent infringement is also widespread. The Administration urges the Dominican Government to make progress toward addressing this situation before next year's review.
Guatemala does not adequately protect pharmaceuticals and its copyright law is deficient. The United States urges Guatemala to give priority to moving copyright law reform through its legislature and to offer better patent and trademark protection. The United States remains concerned about the interception and unauthorized retransmission of U.S. satellite-carried programming by cable and multichannel microwave distribution systems.
Honduras: has drafted and submitted to the Honduran Assembly amendments intended to address shortcomings found in Honduras' 1993 copyright law. Honduras also needs to improve patent and trademark laws and intellectual property enforcement. The United States Government is concerned that more progress on these issues has not been made since last year's review. The United States urges Honduras to conclude negotiations on a bilateral IPR agreement and to fully implement the TRIPs Agreement.
Hong Kong: Copyright piracy has worsened in Hong Kong over the past year, despite requests from the US Government for action, and greater effort by the Government of Hong Kong to combat this problem. As a result, Hong Kong is being placed on the watch list. Enactment of a new copyright law is expected in the near future which should significantly strengthen Hong Kong's ability to make major inroads in the battle against copyright piracy. An out-of-cycle review will be conducted in the fall to review the results of these efforts, with the expectation that Hong Kong will make significant progress in this regard.
Ireland: Developed country obligations under the TRIPS Agreement came into effect in January 1996. Ireland has not yet amended its copyright law to comply with these obligations. Examples of TRIPs inconsistencies include absence of a rental right for sound recordings, no "anti-bootlegging" provision, and very low criminal penalties which fail to deter piracy, all of which have contributed to high levels of piracy in Ireland. The U.S. Government will initiate WTO dispute
