JORDAN'S IPR CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS: PART IV -

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 001199

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR
STATE FOR EB/TPP/IPE - A. ADAMO
STATE ALSO FOR NEA/ELA - M. ROSENSTOCK
DHHS FOR FDA - M. PLAISIR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2016
TAGS: ETRD KIPR KTIA PGOV ECON JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S IPR CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS: PART IV -
ENFORCEMENT

REF: A. AMMAN 1019


B. LAWLESS-ROSENSTOCK-GROVES(USTR)-WEIGLER(COMME RCE)-
EMAIL 2/1/06

C. 05 AMMAN 9748

D. 05 AMMAN 9708

E. 05 AMMAN 8330

Classified By: AMBASSADOR DAVID HALE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D)

THIS IS THE FOURTH AND FINAL INSTALLMENT IN A SERIES OF
CABLES ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN JORDAN.

POST WILL TRANSMIT BY SEPTEL ITS RESPONSE TO THE
DEPARTMENT,S REQUEST (STATE 14937) FOR POST INPUT IN THE
2006 SPECIAL 301 REVIEW.


1. (C) SUMMARY: Despite good intentions on the part of the
Government of Jordan (GoJ) and support from the USAID
program, enforcement of intellectual property rights is
hampered on several fronts, notably by the overlapping
jurisdiction of key government agencies, the lack of clear
IPR mission definition in the GoJ interagency, and a
gap-riddled regulatory structure (Ref,s B, C, D, E). GoJ
enforcement performance falls into three general categories:
good enforcement on software through the dedicated efforts of
a solid private-public team (Ref D); decent enforcement on
copyrights by mostly unguided, untrained, and uninspired
officials; and no enforcement in some cases of pharmaceutical
IPR that cross new frontiers for a GoJ now seeing a critical
mass of such test cases (Refs A, C). Despite these
challenges, all of the IPR stake-holders appear to grasp
inter-agency gaps and are now developing a shared vision of
the deficiencies in IPR enforcement. Moreover, a recent
study by USAID on IPR enforcement in Jordan (Ref B) - and the
compatibility of these efforts with international agreements
(including the FTA) - attracted close cooperation from all
sectors. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is leading an
effort to act on the study's recommendations in rapid
fashion. Similarly, a committee in the National Library will
review actions on copyright enforcement. Private sector
parties are committed to doing their part on enforcement as
well, although some express skepticism that there can be
change without the GoJ devoting more resources to IPR
enforcement. END SUMMARY.

Enforcement Challenges - Inter-Agency Gaps
--------------


2. (SBU) The USAID report, conducted by the Achievement of
Market-Friendly Initiatives and Results (AMIR) program (Ref
B),examined IPR enforcement and the compatibility of
Jordan,s IPR legal-regulatory framework with WTO, FTA and
other international commitments. Among key findings on IPR
enforcement in Jordan, the study noted the:

-- absence of a unified policy and framework which affects
the level and quality of enforcement;

-- absence of copyright regulations and instructions as
a major loophole affecting efficient implementation of the
Copyright Law;

-- occurrence of IP violations due to the lack of
enforcement, rather than the need for more laws;

-- lack of IP awareness and professional training among
enforcement officers and in the judiciary;

-- reluctance among the judiciary to impose significant
fines or penalties, which fails to remove the monetary
incentive for IPR violators; and,

-- lack of resources, infrastructure and technical capacity
to properly enforce IPR protections.


3. (SBU) The GoJ accomplished the first-tier goal of putting
in place numerous FTA-compliant laws (Ref B) with the support
of the USAID AMIR program. In the Ministry of Industry and
Trade (MOIT),the growing dedication to IPR commitments is
chiefly the result of multiple AMIR programs to strengthen
capacity on patent and trademark regulation (under the MOIT
purview) and enhance officials' trade-related capacity. AMIR
has held workshops, seminars, and supported officials' study
tours to USPTO programs in the U.S. Since December 2004 when
the FTA enforcement provisions came into full force, AMIR has
also attempted to strengthen aspects of enforcement among

Customs, Judicial, and National Library officials, and
launched a major public awareness campaign. NOTE: Neither
USAID nor AMIR, however, can carve out budgets, pay salaries,
or upgrade the pay of enforcement officials, and the
inter-agency nature of IPR enforcement in Jordan does not
provide incentives to increase IPR budgets. END NOTE. The
MOIT, which is the AMIR program's point of reference, has no
authority to implement or enforce TRIPS and FTA commitments
in other ministries. MOIT can inform others of the need for
- but not demand - regulations related to the Copyright Law
(Ministry of Culture's responsibility) or for transparent and
understandable regulations in the Jordan Food and Drug
Administration (in the Ministry of Health).


4. (SBU) Despite these considerable inter-agency challenges,
the occurrence of software piracy has gone down in Jordan,
due mainly to the aggressive posture of the Business Software
Alliance (BSA) and its local representative, who has built up
a rapport with local enforcement officials (Ref D). COMMENT:
That most software products are relatively high-end with a
limited market makes the success of this approach possible.
Many forms of optical media have almost the quality of a
commodity; it is far more difficult to regulate their flows
or enforce optical media IPR protections. END COMMENT.

New Developments in Enforcement
--------------


5. (SBU) Over the last two months, the National Library (NL)
has been working more closely with Amman Municipality
authorities on DVD pirate hawkers out on the streets who have
no fixed address. In the past, National Library enforcers
were unable to deal with these cases, based in part on the
NL's conservative and narrow interpretation of its
authorities under the Copyright Law. The National Library is
also in the early stages of exploring tighter cooperation
with the police.


6. (SBU) In spite of the disillusioning legal-regulatory
climate, the GoJ's anti-piracy forces troop on. Final
tallies for the year 2005 show the National Library sent 296
cases to the courts. In December, a major raid on a house in
Irbid by plain-clothes police netted over 160,000 pirated
optical disks. This was one of the few IPR raids conducted
exclusively by the Ministry of Interior (MOI); unlike other
specialized agencies such as the National Library, the MOI
has the power to enforce all laws, but rarely investigates
IPR cases. The National Library followed in December with
two major raids on stores in Amman's City Center, according
to the President of the Jordan Intellectual Property
Association (JIPA),Murad Bushnaq. In mid-February, the NL
raided a West Amman music pirate, confiscating more than
8,000 audiotapes.

Judges: The "Big Loophole"...
--------------


7. (SBU) Like National Library Director General Mamoun
Talhouni, JIPA,s Bushnaq believes the main problem with IPR
enforcement in Jordan is the lenient approach by judges and
their permissive fines of 20-50 Jordanian Dinars (USD
$28-70). Even when defendants plead guilty, the judges rule
them "not liable," which then allows them to avoid the
minimum copyright piracy fine of 1000 JD (USD $1,400). "The
big loophole is the judges," said Bushnaq, who is the Warner
Brothers licensee in Jordan. "The enforcement agencies keep
sending pirates to the courts and they keep getting off.
Then they are back on the streets."

...But Ready to be Trained
--------------


8. (SBU) Post sent two GoJ judges to a USPTO-sponsored
conference in Dubai in January. One judge who had an M.A.
degree in IP law explained to Econoff that there was a
reluctance among Jordanian judges to impose fines, partly
because of a lack of IP awareness, but also out a cultural
sensitivity to being too harsh. The same judge showed us
evidence presented in a pirating case by the National
Library: attached to a box full of DVD's was a single
document with a single line reading "various DVD's containing
pirated material." That was well below Jordan's evidentiary
standard, said the judge, who readily admitted more
cross-training was required for all agencies combating IPR
infringement.


9. (C) On another front, pharmaceutical IPR in Jordan is a
challenge for a young and relatively inexperienced Jordan
Food and Drug Administration (Refs A, C) that is nonetheless
under pressure by a very well-developed generic
pharmaceutical industry. Post will be following up on
pharmaceutical IPR in Jordan in the days and weeks ahead.

A New Cohesion
--------------


10. (C) For all of Jordan's inter-agency difficulties on IPR
enforcement, the USAID study (Ref B) has united Jordan's IPR
officialdom behind a single desire to improve and clean up
the IPR enforcement climate to the extent possible given
current resources. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has
promised to convene again its committee on IPR to review the
USAID study, develop an over-arching strategy, and mark out a
clear path forward. The National Library Director General
told DCM February 13 that he would be convening a new
committee of copyright enforcement agencies (including the
GID anti-fraud unit) to review possible new regulations and
instructions related to the Copyright Law, with the aim of
improving enforcement.


11. (C) COMMENT: IPR enforcement in Jordan undoubtedly has a
long way to go. FTA commitments have not yet been fully met,
mainly in areas outside the direct responsibility of the
Ministry of Industry and Trade. That said, the right
agencies are saying the right things, and are sincerely
trying to improve Jordan's compliance with its international
obligations to uphold intellectual property rights through
stronger enforcement mechanisms. In that vein, the USAID
AMIR program is already advancing a draft IPR action plan
which the concerned GoJ agencies are just beginning to review.
HALE