TURKEY'S PATENT LAW REFORM ENDANGERED BY NEW

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001726 SIPDIS EEB/TPP/IPE FOR JOELLEN URBAN DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR FOR JCHOE-GROVES AND MMOWREY DEPT PLEASE PASS USPTO FOR MICHAEL SMITH USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/CRUSNAK, KNAJDI E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2018 TAGS: ECON KIPR USTR TU SUBJECT: TURKEY'S PATENT LAW REFORM ENDANGERED BY NEW AMENDMENTS Classified By: Economic Counselor Dale Eppler for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d). ¶1. (SBU) On September 23, representatives from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), briefed us about current issues affecting the pharmaceutical industry. Chief among their concerns were two proposed amendments to the new patent law, both of which would seriously weaken patent protections in Turkey. The new patent law is intended to bring Turkey's laws into line with EU IPR standards as part of Turkey,s EU accession process and is supported by the Prime Minister's office. ¶2. (U) The first of the two amendments, proposed by the AKP MP Hakki Koylu from Kastamonu, would essentially invalidate patent rights for all imported goods. Koylu had previously proposed a nearly identical amendment, but withdrew it under pressure from the Prime Minister's office. He then proposed this amendment after the Prime Minister sent the draft legislation to the Parliament. The second amendment, which PhRMA claimed originated with the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI),includes provisions for mandatory licensing, a weakening of penalties, and looser customs procedures. ¶3. (C) We raised these amendments on September 26 with Atilla Bastirmaci, Head of the Agreements Department at the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat (FTU),and learned that both the patent law and the amendments are currently under consideration in parliamentary committee. Bastirmaci said that, on a technical level, all of the relevant ministries are opposed to the amendments and that they would testify against the amendments before the committee. ¶4. (C) Bastirmaci said his understanding is that the Ministry of Health actually proposed the second amendment, not the TPI, as the TPI is also opposed to both amendments. He also expressed his skepticism that MP Koylu himself had actually written the first amendment, as the tone and provisions in it suggested that it had been dictated by an interested party, such as a generic pharmaceutical manufacturer. ¶5. (C) Bastirmaci was hopeful that the amendments would both be killed in committee when Parliament reopens on October 6. He noted that the technical experts at the FTU, TPI, and Ministry of Justice had all informed the PM's office that the amendments would violate Turkey's WTO TRIPS obligations. He warned, however, that if either or both measures pass on to the full Parliament, it would be much harder to remove them from the law or to neutralize their effects. ¶6. (C) Comment: Turkey's patent law reform has been repeatedly hobbled by off-the-wall amendments designed to derail patent protections or water them down. Bastirmici,s warning that these amendments will be difficult to remove from the law if they are approved in committee reflects real concern they could be approved due to political pressure, even though they would complicate Turkey's EU accession talks (the IPR Chapter is open),violate TRIPS and make hi tech investment even more difficult to attract. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON