GVN SEEKS WAY FORWARD ON IPR CRIMINAL CIRCULAR

UNCLAS HANOI 002043 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE PASS USTR FOR DBISBEE AND RBAE STATE ALSO PASS USPTO FOR PFOWLER AND EWU AMEMBASSY BANGKOK FOR USPTO JNESS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR ECON ETRD VM SUBJECT: GVN SEEKS WAY FORWARD ON IPR CRIMINAL CIRCULAR (U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified, not for Internet. REF: A) Hanoi 1616; B) Hanoi 1212 ¶1. (U) In a December 5 meeting, National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) officials told visiting State Department DeskOff and Embassy EconOff that the Prime Minister has directed the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to broker an inter-ministerial solution to the impasse over an outstanding circular providing criminal remedies for commercial scale trademark and copyright infringement (Reftels). MOST has scheduled a December 7 meeting with relevant Government of Vietnam (GVN) agencies to discuss a way forward and to revise the current draft of the circular. ¶2. (U) NOIP and MOST will seek to ensure that the new circular complies with Vietnam's international commitments, the officials said, but stressed that its scope will be constrained by Vietnam's Criminal Code provisions. For example, NOIP officials predicted that to comply with the Criminal Code, the circular will ultimately avoid the term "commercial scale," replacing it instead with a monetary threshold which would trigger criminal proceedings. NOIP agreed to share with the United States any new draft resulting from the December 7 meeting. ¶3. (U) GVN officials recognize that Vietnam must revise its Criminal Code to comply fully with its World Trade Organization (WTO) TRIPS commitments. The Ministry of Justice, as the lead agency for revising the Criminal Code, has already established a drafting committee which includes NOIP. The committee will begin meeting later this month, with the target of submitting a final draft to the National Assembly by the end of 2008. Ideally, the revised code could then be passed during the first session of the National Assembly in 2009, the NOIP officials explained. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: The Prime Minister's directive wrests control over the moribund circular from the Supreme People's Court and gives it to MOST - believed to have more "clout" within the government - likely in an effort to demonstrate progress in advance of the TIFA Council. Furthermore, despite earlier indications that a lower-level official from NOIP would participate in the upcoming TIFA Council, NOIP officials reported today that Director General Tran Viet Hung will personally travel to Washington. These signs all seem to indicate that the GVN would like to resolve this long-standing issue, perhaps in response to continued pressure from the United States. It remains unclear, however, how MOST intends to meet Vietnam's TRIPS obligations without superseding the current Criminal Code. Post will keep Washington informed of further developments in the coming days. End comment. MICHALAK