DRAFT COPYRIGHT LAW IN REVIEW, MAY CLEAR BY

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000897

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP; EEB/IPE; STATE PASS USTR JASON BUNTIN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EIND EINT ETRD KU
SUBJECT: DRAFT COPYRIGHT LAW IN REVIEW, MAY CLEAR BY
DECEMBER


1. (SBU) On Sept. 7, Econcouns met with Shaker al Saleh,
Assistant Undersecretary, Commercial Registration and
Trademarks and Sheikha Rasha al Sabah, Director for IPR,
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to discuss the status of
the revised copyright law. Econcouns pressed both for a
timeline on when revisions would be completed and offered to
facilitate expert-level consultations with USTR, via
teleconference or videoconference, to discuss any questions
that the GoK might have about USG comments on the law.
Econcouns commended GoK's improved enforcement actions on
copyright violations, but observed that Kuwait's outdated IPR
laws contributed to its position on the Special 301 Watch
List. Sheikha Rasha reiterated her intent to bring the
copyright law into full TRIPS compliance, but noted that
USTR's suggested additions to the draft law exceeded TRIPS
requirements and referenced treaties to which Kuwait is not
yet a signatory. Econcouns noted that these changes could
help promote closer trade ties in the future.


2. (SBU) Sheikha Rasha stated that she hoped to be able to
finish the revised law and forward it to the Ministry of
Justice for review by December. She said she preferred to
wait until after the Ministry of Justice review before
scheduling any consultations with USTR, but offered to share
the revised draft again with the USG. Al Saleh noted that
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently reviewing
Kuwait's accession to the Paris, Madrid and Bern conventions,
and that his immediate priority is for Kuwait to join the
Paris Convention. Sheikha Rasha asserted that she is
currently exploring the option to suspend for a minimum of
six months the commercial licenses of companies that
repeatedly violate copyright laws.


3. (SBU) Comment: Given Sheikha Rasha's response, post
believes further engagement, on the copyright law
specifically, until the draft has cleared the Ministry of
Justice would likely prove counter-productive. We will be
following-up with MFA on the three IPR conventions and would
welcome any guidance that can be used with regard to them.
Sheikha Rasha's exploration of using existing administrative
authorities to seek to revoke the commercial licenses of
firms engaged in egregious copyright violations is
encouraging. Such a measure would give more teeth to IPR
enforcement in Kuwait, but even if existing authorities can
be interpreted to allow revocations - by no means a sure
thing - actually implementing such a measure can predictably
be expected to face opposition from some commercial quarters
in Kuwait. End Comment.

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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
visit Kuwait's Classified Website at:

http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it
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JONES