Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASHGABAT1597
2009-12-10 13:15:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:  

INL-FUNDED IPR ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR

Tags:  KIPR TBIO TNGD TPHY TRGY TSPA PGOV TX 
pdf how-to read a cable
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P 101315Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3886
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5984
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 3678
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 4226
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 001597 

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KIPR TBIO TNGD TPHY TRGY TSPA PGOV TX
SUBJECT: INL-FUNDED IPR ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR
TURKMEN OFFICIALS

ASHGABAT 00001597 001.2 OF 003


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASHGABAT 001597

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KIPR TBIO TNGD TPHY TRGY TSPA PGOV TX
SUBJECT: INL-FUNDED IPR ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR
TURKMEN OFFICIALS

ASHGABAT 00001597 001.2 OF 003



1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public
Internet.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Five Turkmen Government officials
participated in an INL-funded General Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) Enforcement Program in
Alexandria, VA from December 1-4. Delegation members
also met with INL Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth
Verville and visited a federal district court. During
the four-day training seminar at the Global
Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA),Turkmen
attendees listened to presentations on IPR border
enforcement, investigation and prosecution of IPR
crimes, and copyright industry trends. Participants
were excited about learning U.S. experience in
enforcing IPR and engaged into discussions with the
trainers and participants from other CIS countries.
END SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) BACKGROUND: In September 2007, the Embassy
and the Turkmen government signed the second Amendment
to the Letter of Agreement (LOA) on Narcotics Control
and Law Enforcement Assistance. The amendment
included provisions for a new intellectual property
rights (IPR) project. Its goals were to raise
awareness about IPR protection and violations among
legislative and law enforcement agencies; to increase
understanding about relevant international standards;
and to encourage more effective IPR legislation and
law enforcement in Turkmenistan. It was designed to
develop the skills of police, State Customs Service,
prosecutors, judges, and other law enforcement
officials to protect IPR, including preventing the
transshipment of pirated and counterfeit goods. END
BACKGROUND.


4. (SBU) The five officials included the head of the
Department for General Monitoring of the Prosecutor
General's Office, the head of the Department for
Combating Economic Crimes, Chief of the Customs Point
"Beyik Serdar Yoly" (located on the Turkmen - Iranian
Border),the head of the Patent Department at the

Ministry of Economics and Development and a judge of the
Supreme Court. This was the first engagement of
Turkmen officials in an IPR-related activity since the
adoption in November 2008 of two relevant Turkmen
laws: One on inventions and industrial designs and
another on trade and service marks and places of
origin.


5. (SBU) As a part of the program, on November 30,
the officials met with INL DAS Elizabeth Verville.
They discussed IPR-related laws in Turkmenistan and
IPR trends in the region. The participants noted that
Turkmenistan's IPR-related issues are thus far limited
to trade in counterfeit products such as audio and
video systems, computer equipment, software, textile,
food, alcohol, toys and pirated DVDs. The majority of
the counterfeit goods are imported from China,
Thailand, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Turkey.
Implementing the IPR laws has been slow, due to a lack
of skills, expertise, resources, and training. The
Turkmen officials admitted that the concept of
intellectual property rights is new to the region.
There have been no prosecutions thus far for IPR
violations in Turkmenistan. The officials also
pointed out that Turkmenistan does not have the
problem of internal counterfeit production, nor has
there been any internal unlicensed production of
either international or domestic brands. The Turkmen

ASHGABAT 00001597 002.2 OF 003


prosecutor in the delegation said that IPR is an issue
of concern to them, particularly as it concerns
national textile products intended for export. At the
end of the meeting, the delegation thanked DAS
Verville and the INL Bureau for organizing the visit
and the opportunity given for them to attend the
training and learn from the experiences of U.S.
experts in the field.


6. (SBU) During the four-day training seminar, held
at the Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA),
Turkmen attendees, together with counterparts from
Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, heard presentations on
"Patents, trademarks and copyrights", "The role of the
World Intellectual Property Organization in IPR
enforcement", "Border enforcement of IPR and the U.S.
legal system," "Targeting counterfeit and pirated
goods", "Investigating IP crimes", "Enforcing IPR
through criminal prosecution", "IPR crimes in digital
environment", and "The copyright industry?s
perspective". Presentations on IPR border enforcement
and investigations were of particular interest to the
Turkmen participants. The representative from State
Customs Service was interested in learning more about
IPR enforcement procedures concerning non-commercial
imports (for instance, items brought in for
exhibitions or trade shows) as well as perishable
goods (food). The representative from the General
Prosecutor?s office was interested in learning the
procedures undertaken when a citizen reports on
identified counterfeit products in the market. The
official from the Ministry of Interior asked about the
sources and amounts of funding designated to U.S. law
enforcement for IPR protection.


7. (SBU) Besides the classroom presentations, GIPA
also organized a visit to the U.S. District Court for
the Eastern District of Virginia. The Turkmen
officials were surprised to learn that U.S. judges are
appointed for life, compared to the Turkmen system,
where every judge is appointed by the President for a
five-year term, and eligible for re-appointment. They
also asked the judge about his role in granting
pardons, and were eager to tell about the general
amnesties granted regularly by the Turkmen President
on the eve of national holidays in Turkmenistan. It
was also surprising for Turkmen officials to find out
that fraud victims normally receive no restitution
from the state, explaining that in Turkmenistan,
victim restitution is mandatory, and that perpetrators
are liable for compensating victims' losses.


8. (SBU) The Turkmen participants were active,
attended all presentations, often asked questions and
engaged in the discussions. The most interesting
discussion was during the last presentation of the
seminar given by an attorney from International
Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). When the IIPA
attorney attempted to criticize Turkmenistan for not
meeting international legal norms and lacking
copyright and related IPR laws, a representative from
Turkmen patent office explained that although there
was no separate copyright law in Turkmenistan, the
Civil Code contains sufficient amendments to protect
copyrights. He also noted that Turkmenistan has
adopted two laws on inventions and on trademarks, of
which the IIPA attorney was not aware. Additionally,
it was also acknowledged that Turkmenistan is planning
to accede to both the Bern Convention and the Geneva
Phonograms Convention in 2010. So far, over 30,000

ASHGABAT 00001597 003.2 OF 003


international and local trademarks have been
officially registered with the Patent Office of
Turkmenistan.


9. (SBU) COMMENT: The concept of intellectual
property rights is relatively new to Turkmen law
enforcement officials and as a result, there have been
no IPR prosecutions to date. Since the applicable
laws were signed by the president, Turkmen officials
feel accountable for their implementation and are thus
eager to initiate IPR cases. INL will continue to
work with the Turkmen on IPR issues. The next step of
the project will entail bringing GIPA experts to
Turkmenistan to train a much broader audience on IPR
enforcement. END COMMENT.

CURRAN