ECUADOR 2007 SPECIAL 301 UPDATE

UNCLAS QUITO 000555 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS USTR FOR JENNIFER CHOE GROVES STATE FOR EB/TPP/IPE JENNIFER BOGER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR ETRD ECON EC SUBJECT: ECUADOR 2007 SPECIAL 301 UPDATE REF: QUITO 404 ¶1. (SBU) This is an update to post's submission on Ecuador for the Special 301 review (reftel). The head of the Ecuadorian Intellectual Property Institute (IEPI),Cesar Davila, had reported that the GOE's proposed 2007 budget included funds to establish specialized IP courts (as required by Ecuador's 1998 intellectual property law). He also noted the funds would most likely be used to create tribunals in the major cities of Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca. However, post has since discovered that the council that would create these specialized courts did not receive its full budget request and will likely not have the funds to create said courts. ¶2. (SBU) The Consejo de la Juridicatura is the office that would be responsible for setting up specialized IP courts in Ecuador. It reportedly requested USD 336 million for its 2007 budget. However, in the end it only received USD 136 million for the 2007 budget, a mere three percent increase from the previous year that will largely be eaten up by inflation adjustments to salaries. In a meeting with post's commercial attache, Executive Director of the Consejo Olmedo Castro explained that the Consejo's first level priorities (in order of importance) are family courts, labor courts, and further training for judges in oral administration (required by the Constitution but not yet fully implemented). IPR courts, while important, fall into the second level of priorities, and with such a small budget increase Castro lamented that he does not expect to have enough money to even cover the Consejo's first level priorities. JEWELL