enforcement in Uzbekistan remains very weak due to a lack of ex officio authority that would allow customs officials to seize infringing materials at the border, a lack of civil ex parte search procedures, and inadequate criminal penalties for IPR violations. The United States urges Uzbekistan to remedy these deficiencies in its IPR laws and to take immediate and effective measures to improve enforcement.
VIETNAM
Vietnam will remain on the Watch List in 2005 to encourage further progress on IPR issues, especially continued implementation of the intellectual property provisions of the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The United States and Vietnam have been working together to address IPR issues during WTO accession discussions, and we hope to see continued progress this year. Vietnam is obligated to provide high standards of IPR protection pursuant to the U.S.-Vietnam BTA. Vietnam has amended some of its IPR legislation this year, although a considerable amount of work is still necessary in the legislative arena, particularly with respect to copyright, data protection, and patents. IPR infringement remains rampant in Vietnam, and enforcement continues to be ineffective despite some improvement in laws and regulations. Judges in Vietnam have been reluctant to impose penalties or fines at levels sufficient to deter future infringements, and ex officio raids are sporadic at best. Piracy of copyrighted works and trademark counterfeiting remains rampant throughout Vietnam. Despite an extension of patent protection to 20 years, the U.S. pharmaceutical industry is concerned that there are no provisions in Vietnamese law to protect test data against unfair commercial use, which is a requirement under TRIPS and the BTA. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are common in the marketplace. We encourage Vietnam to continue to build upon its public commitment to IPR protection by enacting strong IPR laws and providing effective enforcement against IPR infringement.
