OMAN ACCEDES TO IPR CONVENTIONS AND TREATIES

UNCLAS MUSCAT 000418 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, EEB/TPP/MTA/IPC STATE PASS USTR FOR JBUNTIN COMMERCE FOR COBERG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD PREL KPIR MU SUBJECT: OMAN ACCEDES TO IPR CONVENTIONS AND TREATIES REF: BUNTIN/GRIMM EMAIL OF 4/28/07 ¶1. Local media reported that on April 23 the Omani government acceded to several international conventions and treaties pertaining to the protection of intellectual property. According to government-owned Arabic daily "Oman," Royal Decree 37/2007 directed Oman's immediate accession to the 1974 Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellites; the 1977 Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure; the 1989 Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks; the 1991 International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants; the 1994 Trademark Law Treaty; and the 2000 Patent Law Treaty. ¶2. Comment: The royal decree confirms the Omani government's firm intent to recognize and abide by international IPR obligations, as required by the FTA. As mentioned in ref e-mail, post will provide USTR with a translated copy of the decree once it is published in the next edition of Oman's official gazette, which is expected to be released on May 2. End comment. GRAPPO