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

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Summary
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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.

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Comment
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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