2008 TRENDS IN MONGOLIAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ULAANBAATAR 000190

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE PASS USTR, USTDA, OPIC, AND EXIMBANK
STATE FOR EAP/CM AND EB/IFD/OIA/INL
USAID FOR ANE FOR D. WINSTON
USDOC FOR ZHEN-GONG CROSS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD ECON PGOV MG KIPR
SUBJECT: 2008 TRENDS IN MONGOLIAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
PROTECTION

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Generally, the Government of Mongolia and relevant
agencies make good-faith efforts to enforce Intellectual Property
Rights (IPR). However, gaps in enforcement of IPR rights in
relation to optical media, software, and certain treaty obligations
exist, due to political pressure from politically connected IPR
pirates, inconsistencies between Mongolian laws and IPR treaties,
and institutional indifference. In addition, Mongolia has developed
a modest home-grown capacity to manufacture and distribute fakes
that, although in its infancy, may reach out to counterfeit networks
in China and Russia. For these reasons, Post recommends that
Mongolia receive training in U.S. IPR positions and U.S. enforcement
methods on an annual basis. END SUMMARY.

Mongolia's current regime for protecting IPR
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2. (U) The Government of Mongolia (GOM) supports intellectual
property rights in general and has protected American rights in
particular. It has joined the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO),and signed and ratified most treaties and
conventions, including the WTO TRIPS agreement. The WIPO Internet
treaties have been signed, but have yet to be ratified by
Parliament. Although the convention has not yet been ratified, the
GOM and its intellectual property rights enforcer, the Intellectual
Property Office of Mongolia (IPOM),generally make a good-faith
effort to honor these agreements.


3. (U) The IPOM generally has an excellent record of protecting
American trademarks, copyrights and patents. However, its small
budget and modest capacity limits the scope of its actions. In most
cases, when the Embassy conveys a complaint from a rights holder to
the IPOM, the IPOM quickly investigates the complaint. If it judges
that a violation has occurred, it seizes the pirated products or
removes the faked trademarks, under administrative powers granted in
Mongolian law.


4. (SBU) A specific case in point is the support provided last year
to Mongol Star Melchers (MSM),the authorized distributor for
Johnson and Johnson (JJ) medical products in Mongolia. MSM had
reported that JJ's Vicryl line of sutures had suffered from
trademark infringement of the Vicryl trademarks by a Mongolian firm
that had imported fake sutures from China. Post facilitated
contacts between the IPOM and the official distributor. IPOM
investigated the infringement and expressed a desire to enforce JJ's
trademarks, pending the distributor's completion of all Mongolian
registration requirements. The distributor confirmed completion of
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