IPR WEBSITE: CANADA

UNCLAS OTTAWA 003420 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAN (BREESE AND HOLST) EB/TPP/BTA/EWH: (MATTHEWMAN, AARON); EB/TPP/IPC (ADAMO, WILSON) STATE PASS USTR FOR SAGE CHANDLER USDOC FOR 4320/OFFICE OF NAFTA (ZIMMERMAN); 3134/OIO/WESTERN HEMISPHERE; SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR ETRD CA NAFTA SUBJECT: IPR WEBSITE: CANADA REF: State 224924 ¶1. Post regrets delay in response to reftel. ¶2. Econ Counselor discussed the pros and cons of developing an IPR toolkit for Canada with FCS colleagues, who have experience with the highly successful China IPR toolkit. Our conclusion is that developing a similar project for Canada is not the most effective way of approaching IPR concerns here. ¶3. As an English-speaking country with a reasonably accessible regulatory process, and an effective law enforcement system and judiciary, Canada does not present the same kinds of challenges as China, e.g. corruption and lack of transparency and enforcement. U.S. IPR owners do not appear, from our experience, to have trouble navigating the system. We therefore do not see the need to go beyond the information in the Country Commercial Guide with IPR- specific materials. ¶4. Rather, U.S. company concerns about IPR protection in Canada are focused primarily on the substance of Canadian IPR rules, e.g. failure so far to ratify WIPO, which has resulted in damaging ambiguity about the illegality of filesharing in Canada. U.S. firms, and Canadian IPR enforcement experts, are also frustrated by some aspects of the Canadian legal system related to IPR enforcement. These include the higher thresholds of evidence, and highly specific information, required to initiate an IPR enforcement case, the limited powers of Canada Customs officials to pursue suspected violations on their own authority, and the competition for law enforcement resources with other priorities. IPR enforcement and related issues are part of the Mission law enforcement agenda discussed at the annual Cross-Border Crime Forum in October 2004, and US DHS/ICE officials have attended RCMP-sponsored events such as a week-long workshop in Toronto on IPR enforcement. U.S. firms have actively pursued enforcement cases here, often in conjunction with their Canadian counterparts. Mission DHS officers are also involved in efforts to energize bilateral cooperation on IPR cases through the NAFTA Enforcement Working Group.