BULGARIA: 2005 SPECIAL 301 NOTIFICATION

UNCLAS SOFIA 000874

SIPDIS


STATE FOR EUR/NCE BRANDON; EB/TPP/IPE JURBAN; SWILSON
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR ERRION
COMMERCE FOR SAVICH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KIPR ECON ETRD
SUBJECT: BULGARIA: 2005 SPECIAL 301 NOTIFICATION
(INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY)

REF: STATE 79038


1. ACTION REQUEST IN PARA 5.


2. On April 29, we informed Deputy Minister Parvanov,
Ministry of Economy, and Chavdar Zhenchev, MFA's America's
Directorate, of the decision to place Bulgaria on the Watch
List for 2005. We delivered the points in reftel verbally,
and left them as a non-paper. GOB officials' expressed
pleasure at not being bumped up to the Priority Watch List
(PWL). We reminded them that they have a long way to go, and
could very well be on the PWL next year unless serious,
immediate action is taken to address intellectual property
problems.


3. Parvanov said he would begin work on an Action Plan
immediately to address many of the issues in the demarche, as
well as other ideas for improving the enforcement regime,
moving legislation ahead, etc. Although Parvanov told us he
will likely not return to the Ministry after the June
elections, he said he wanted to start the process now because
his replacement might not be immediately committed to this
issue. Zhenchev promised the MFA will continue to pass
information and press the responsible agencies, but the MFA
does not have much direct authority in this area. We will
deliver soon the information to other related agencies.


4. In a subsequent meeting with Valerie Yotov, MFA's
Director of the America's Division, Yotov said Bulgaria's
goal is not just to avoid the PWL, but to get off the Watch
List completely. He added that the Bulgarian parliament was
well aware of our concerns regarding the draft IPR law now
under consideration. He said parliament would also consider
this month a change to the Penal Code that would criminalize
possession or storage of "commercial quantities" of pirate
CDs.


5. COMMENT: Although we encouraged the GOB to begin
drafting an Action Plan now, we do not hold out much hope
that it will be completed soon. In addition, any plan will
have to be vetted by, and receive the imprimatur of, the
incoming government. We do not expect any firm commitments
to an Action Plan until late summer/early fall. ACTION
REQUEST: We would appreciate versions of action plans
submitted by other countries which could be used as a model
for Bulgaria, i.e., Slovakia. END COMMENT/ACTION REQUEST