management team to the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office and introduction of standard practices for investigating and prosecuting IPR crimes. The United States encourages the Prosecutor General to establish specialized IPR prosecutorial units in Sofia and other large cities, appoint a sufficient number of lawyers to these units, provide detailed guidance and training, and closely monitor and analyze their work. The United States also encourages Bulgaria to take steps to improve the efficiency of its judicial system in dealing with IPR cases and providing deterrent sentences. IPR cases often persist for years, and deterrent-level sentencing remains rare. For example, in the first nine months of 2014, Bulgarian courts resolved around 100 IPR cases, but in the 30 instances where judges imposed prison sentences, each of those sentences was suspended. Internet piracy remains rampant as well. In addition, Bulgaria is one of the few European countries that refuses to use "sampling" in IPR cases. As a result, if the police seize multiple servers loaded with many gigabytes of infringing material, experts at the Copyright Office must examine each work and prepare a detailed report. Prosecutors must include every infringing work that police seized in the indictment, and judges must examine every work individually. This unnecessarily delays and complicates every large Internet piracy case. As Bulgaria continues efforts to draft a new Criminal Code, the United States urges the Council for Intellectual Protection and the Prosecutor General to address Internet piracy to resolve the numerous enforcement difficulties in this area. In addition, the United States remains concerned that administrative enforcement actions are sporadic and ineffective, especially with regard to Internet piracy. For example, in 2013, the Ministry of Culture conducted 743 checks for copyright infringement on the Internet, but carried out only 13 in 2014, and only issued three penalties. The United States recognizes that the two biggest Bulgarian collecting societies have licensing agreements in place with radio and TV broadcasters, but recommends that the government also work to ensure compliance by cable operators and that it take action to address unlawful fee collection by smaller rogue societies. The United States looks forward to continuing to work with Bulgaria to address these and other issues.
Greece
Greece remains on the Watch List in 2015. In 2014, Greece continued to make progress in IPR protection and enforcement. Notably, with respect to trademark protection and combating trade in counterfeit goods, the Hellenic Police and Greek Customs Authority increased seizures and investigations. Moreover, last year Greece passed a law authorizing authorities to impose criminal as well as administrative sanctions on individuals caught trafficking in counterfeit goods. The United States encourages Greek officials to use this new authority to better fight the street sales of counterfeit and pirated goods present in Greece's largest cities and tourist areas. Recent changes to the Greek Code of Civil Procedure have improved the efficiency and timeliness of civil infringement suits. While the Government of Greece has made progress, several issues remain to be addressed. The United States urges Greece to enact official storage time limits for goods detained at Greek ports and to ensure the timely destruction of these goods, as well as to consider joining most EU member states in adopting a policy that allows for the
