EMBASSY 2007 WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAY OUTREACH

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000861 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR EB/TPP/IPE JBOGER, RWALLACE AND RWATTS DEPT PLS PASS TO USTR JENNIFER CHOE GROVES, SUE CRONIN DOC/ITA/MAC/OIPR FOR CATHERINE PETERS PLEASE PASS TO USPTO JURBAN AND LOC STEPP TREASURY FOR ROSELLEN ALBANO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR ECON KPAS AR SUBJECT: EMBASSY 2007 WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAY OUTREACH Refs: (A) Buenos Aires 750 (B) State 56094 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) For World Intellectual Property Day, Embassy Buenos Aires used editorials and a press event to bring the problem of piracy to the Argentines' attention. On April 26, prominent editorials appeared in two morning papers and that afternoon, in an event that received broad press coverage, the Ambassador and the American Chamber of Commerce hosted the launch of a new pro-IP effort: a contest aimed at college students and young professionals. Improving intellectual property protection in Argentina will be a long term effort, and Post's World IP Day program seeks to educate public perceptions and show that improved IP protection is good for Argentina. End Summary. ¶2. (U) World Intellectual Property Day, designated by member nations of the World Intellectual Property Organization, was observed April ¶26. On that day, Post participated in a number of events designed to emphasize the positive aspects for Argentina of improved intellectual property protection. The most public of these was the launch, hosted by the Ambassador, of a contest organized by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). The contest asks participants - college students and young professionals - to write an essay that describes how intellectual property protection can benefit Argentina. Winners will receive free post-graduate courses at one of two local universities, or the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI, the GoA's USPTO equivalent). The event was attended by representatives of nearly all contest sponsors, including Mario Aramburu, the President of INPI. Coverage included several newspaper articles and television reports. ¶3. (SBU) Business-oriented daily "El Cronista Comercial" dedicated a front page reference to a 3/4 page editorial inside by Ambassador Wayne, emphasizing IP protection as the most effective way to nurture creativity. Noting that Argentines have benefited from and produced an abundance of creative work in the arts and sciences, the editorial mentioned the recent news that Argentine scientists had found a way to get cows to produce insulin. PAS worked with a local editorialist to coordinate a second editorial on the same morning in leading daily "La Nacion," which expressed that "in countries where piracy rates are higher, the result is a diminished supply of creative efforts, with consequent cultural impoverishment." ¶4. (U) There has been follow-on media coverage of the issue of intellectual property rights and the problem of piracy, including reports May 2 on Argentina's status under the Special 301 process. Argentina's placement on the Priority Watch List for the 13th year in a row has generated news items that highlight its classification along with 12 other under-performers. ¶5. (SBU) World Intellectual Property Day came in the midst of a public controversy regarding intellectual property rights. U.S. pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) got a patent in January 2007 for a new anti-HIV product, produced in a joint venture with Pfizer, another U.S. firm. BMS quickly obtained a preliminary injunction against a local firm which had offered to sell copies of the drug to the GOA's AIDS program. (Note: Other firms have had difficulty obtaining such injunctions - see ref A - but that has been in cases where the patent was based on the process, while the BMS patent was based on the molecule. End Note). A business chamber which represents the local firm took out full-page ads in most dailies denouncing the decision, and the judge who made it by name. Health Minister Gines Gonzalez joined the fray the next day, saying patents for medicines "generate monopolies and put supply of medicines at risk," and also wrote an editorial published April 20 calling local AIDS patients "hostages" of multinational firms. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Argentina's placement on the Special 301 Priority Watch List for the 13th year in a row (Ref B) makes it clear that major improvements in the Argentine IPR regime will come about only as the result of a long-term effort. Education efforts, particularly those aimed at Argentina's youth, will be an important part of this process. Post's IP efforts are focused on the long term goal of trying to change perceptions, both of the public and the GoA, and to show that Argentina and its wealth of creative talent stands to benefit from improved IP protection. ¶7. (U) To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires.< /a> WAYNE