C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 001271

SIPDIS

FOR EB/IPE SWILSON AND NEA/IP GLOGERFO; DEPARTMENT PASS TO
USTR CNOVELLI AND ESAUMS; DOC JBOGER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2010
TAGS: ETRD IS KIPR ECONOMY AND FINANCE LABOR AND COMMERCE ISRAEL RELATIONS
SUBJECT: (C) IPR: ISRAEL TO PURSUE LEGISLATION ON PATENTS
AND IPR



1. (C) Minister of Industry and Trade Ehud Olmert called
the Ambassador March 3 to say that the government will push
ahead with pending legislation on patents and IPR. Since the
legislation is attached to the budget bill, Olmert expected
it to be adopted on March 16. In conveying this message,
Olmert said he was frustrated that USTR had scheduled a
video-teleconference on the outstanding data exclusivity
issues on March 17. Olmert noted that, if the negotiations
with USTR produce an agreed outcome, the GOI will amend its
legislation accordingly.


2. (C) Ambassador said that Olmert has put the cart before
the horse and that the GOI's decision to press ahead with the
legislation appeared to render the March 17 negotiation
meaningless. If it was as easy to amend the legislation as
Olmert suggested, the Ambassador said it should be equally
easy to hold off adopting the legislation and then deciding
after March 17 whether to move forward.


3. (C) Olmert pushed back, saying that he had waited many
weeks for a response from USTR and that, once the response
had been delivered, it indicated no new ideas on the part of
the USG with respect to the outstanding issues. Olmert
repeated a familiar theme, that he had believed agreement had
been reached last autumn with then-USTR Ambassador Zoellick,
and the fact that the USG had pulled back from this agreement
only added to his frustration.


4. (C) Comment: Unless we can signal to Olmert that the
March 17 negotiations are likely to produce agreement --
meaning that we will bring new ideas to the table -- we don't
see the value in pursuing those talks. If the negotiations
do go ahead, Israel will come to the table with its position
enhanced by a new law and with very little to gain from
compromising on the law's provisions.

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