Pakistan: Pakistan's regime for protection of intellectual property does not yet comply with the obligations of the TRIPS Agreement. The Government of Pakistan has undertaken the task of rewriting legislation in the areas of copyrights, patents, and trademarks, but this work appears to have been hampered by lack of a central coordinating authority. Intellectual property piracy in Pakistan remains widespread, affecting patented, copyrighted and trademarked products. Pakistani authorities have taken some steps to strengthen enforcement, including stepping up raids, but court action is slow, and courts tend to impose non-deterrent penalties. We continue to be concerned as well that insufficient measures are being taken to curb illicit production of optical media at three plants located in Pakistan, and urge the Government of Pakistan to take action against pirate producers.
The Philippines has been inconsistent in its nationwide enforcement efforts which rarely result in the imposition of deterrent penalties. Work has continued on legislation to implement TRIPS Agreement obligations in the area of integrated circuit design and plant variety protection, but the legislation has not yet been enacted. It is also unclear whether existing law provides right holders an ex parte search and seizure remedy as required by TRIPS Article 50, which is a major priority for the United States. Other deficiencies that are not addressed by regulations include onerous technology licensing restrictions. We are also concerned about ineffective enforcement against cable television piracy, and about the persistence of unacceptably high levels of piracy of U.S. textbooks and other publications. In reaction to increased reports about the proliferation of infringing optical disc production in the Philippines, the United States strongly urges the Philippine Government to adopt an effective regulatory system to combat this problem. We will continue to consult informally with the Government of the Philippines in an effort to encourage it to resolve outstanding TRIPS compliance concerns as soon as possible in the coming months.
Qatar: Despite isolated enforcement actions, Qatar has not yet pursued sustained and deterrent enforcement against end-users of unauthorized computer software, including government entities and against retail shops selling pirated software. Although amendments to its copyright law have been drafted to comply with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, these amendments have not yet been enacted. The United States looks forward to enactment in the near future. Qatar has announced that it will adhere to the GCC Patent Regulation and use the GCC Patent Office, and recently provided welcome assurances that it would do so in the coming weeks. However, Qatar has yet to approve and implement a TRIPS-consistent patent law. The government has repeatedly assured U.S. government and industry representatives over the years that unauthorized copies of patented U.S. pharmaceuticals would not be permitted to enter the market. These assurances were reaffirmed recently to U.S. industry. USTR will review Qatar's Special 301 status upon its enactment of a TRIPS-consistent intellectual property regime.
Romania: Although Romania has joined the Berne Convention and the Geneva Phonograms Convention, and is a signatory of the WIPO treaties, it has yet to ratify the treaties or pass legislation necessary to implement them. Criminal enforcement against copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting (especially of U.S. distilled spirits) continues to be lax, resulting in troubling levels of infringements against imported products and growing domestic production of
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