DOMINICAN CONGRESS STALLS EFFORT TO UNDERCUT IPR

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 004635 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, EB/TPP/MTA/IPC; USDOC PASS USPTO; WHITE HOUSE FOR USTR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR PGOV DR SUBJECT: DOMINICAN CONGRESS STALLS EFFORT TO UNDERCUT IPR PROTECTION ¶1. Summary. On August 11 Charge and EcoPol counselor urged Dominican House of Representatives President Alfredo Pacheco to block draft legislation from the Senate intended to reduce penalties for IPR infringements and to institute automatic compulsory licensing of patents. Pacheco said that he will allow the draft measure to expire with the end of the extraordinary session and will not allow precipitate acion on it in the session to begin next week. End Summary. ¶2. Dominican IPR attorney Mary Fernandez contacted the Embassy on August 9 to advise that in unpublicized action on July 22 the Dominican Senate had quickly passed legislation that would alter existing law to provide that a) in cases of requests for compulsory licensing of patents, these would be considered granted in the event that the authorities take no administrative action in the period of 120 days, and b) current penalties for IPR infringement would be revised to exclude jail terms and to set fines on a scale that would not exceed 250,000 Dominican pesos (approximately USD 5,000). Fernandez provided a facsimile of the draft legislation, which reportedly remained in the Dominican Senate awaiting transmission to the House of Representatives. ¶3. The Charge, FCS counselor, and EcoPol staff received Fernandez and regional representative of U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck Sharp and Dohme on August 10 and on August 11 the Charge and EcoPol counselor called on House of Representatives President Alfredo Pacheco. Pacheco indicated that he had just received the Senate draft, along with other legislation seeking to set up a closer regime of supervision for fuel distribution. "I will not move quickly on these issues," he commented. "One thing I have learned in this year's term as president is that it's a mistake to push measures through in a hurry." ¶4. The Charge pointed out the potential of this legislation for undermining business confidence; she also stressed the requirements of the TRIPS agreement for patent protection, due process, and disuasive enforcement measures. She provided background material taken from the WTO website, the TRIPS articles concerning patents, and relevant text from the Doha ministerial declaration of the World Trade Organization. KUBISKE