property commitments under the 1993 U.S.-Turkmenistan Trade Agreement. Specifically, Turkmenistan is not yet a member of the Berne Convention or the Geneva Phonograms Convention, is not providing any protection or rights to U.S. and other foreign sound recordings, and does not clearly provide retroactive protection for works or sound recordings under its copyright law. In addition, there is weak enforcement of intellectual property rights in Turkmenistan. Criminal penalties for intellectual property violations have not yet been adopted as required by the 1993 U.S.-Turkmenistan Trade Agreement. Further, the Customs Code does not provide the proper authority to seize material at the border, as is necessary to conduct effective border enforcement. Ineffective border enforcement could cause Turkmenistan to become a target for illegal optical media producers, a problem that other countries of the region have faced.
Uruguay: Reform of outdated patent and copyright legislation has been underway in Uruguay for a number of years. The Uruguayan Congress enacted the patent bill in September 1999, but the new law contains several problematic areas, including omission of protection for confidential test data, overly broad compulsory licensing provisions, failure to address exclusive marketing rights, and international exhaustion of patent rights. We urge the Government of Uruguay to enact TRIPS-consistent copyright legislation and to amend the new patent law to bring it into full compliance with TRIPS Agreement obligations. We will continue to consult informally with the Government of Uruguay in an effort to encourage it to resolve outstanding TRIPS compliance concerns as soon as possible in the coming months.
Uzbekistan: Uzbekistan has several remaining steps to take to fulfill its intellectual property commitments under the 1994 U.S.-Uzbekistan Trade Agreement and to make its intellectual property regime consistent with the TRIPS Agreement. Specifically, Uzbekistan is not yet a member of the Berne Convention or the Geneva Phonograms Convention, is not providing any protection or rights to U.S. and other foreign sound recordings, and does not clearly provide retroactive protection for works or sound recordings under its copyright law. In addition, there is weak enforcement of intellectual property rights in Uzbekistan and widespread piracy of all copyrighted products. Uzbekistan has not yet amended its Criminal Code following passage of the 1996 Copyright Act to adopt deterrent penalties for intellectual property violations as required by the 1994 bilateral agreement. The Criminal Code does provide for liability for infringement of copyright and patent violations but does not include neighboring rights. Existing penalties are limited and weak. Further, the Customs Law does not provide the proper authority to seize material at the border as required by the WTO TRIPS Agreement. Ineffective border enforcement could cause Uzbekistan to become a target for illegal optical media producers, a problem that other countries of the region have faced.
Venezuela: Venezuela's protection of intellectual property rights has not improved significantly during this past year, with piracy remaining at about the same level. The trademark office (SAPI) has made notable improvements in its operations during the last year, and the anti-piracy command of the judicial police (COMANPI) has continued to carry out raids against trademark counterfeiters, despite significant resource constraints. However, trademark counterfeiting in the
30
