SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON IP A SUCCESS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 001034 SENSITIVE, SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/TPP/MTA/IPE/KEAT/URBAN STATE FOR WHA/MEX/WOLFSON STATE PASS TO USTR FOR MELLE/MCCOY/SHIGETOMI/VETERE STATE PASS TO JUSTICE FOR CCIPS/MERRIAM,KOUAME AND OPDAT/TRUEBELL AND RAMOS STATE PASS TO COMMERCE FOR ITA/MAC/ONAFTA/WORD STATE PASS TO COMMERCE FOR ITA/MAC/IPR/WILSON,BOGER COMMERCE PASS TO USPTO FOR RODRIGUEZ/BERDUT/MORALES E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR ECON ETRD MX SUBJECT: SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON IP A SUCCESS Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Embassy, with the financial support of the Department of Justice (DOJ),the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO),and the Copyright Office, sponsored the Second International Conference on Intellectual Property, held in Monterrey from March 25- ¶27. This event, organized by the Mexican National College of Magistrates and Judges and the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI),among others, brought together more than 250 participants - including 50 judges - from nine countries to share experiences and discuss the role of the judiciary in IP protection and enforcement. Five U.S. speakers participated, including Senior U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lew, U.S. District Court Judge Bernice Donald, and Associate Register Maria Pallante. The conference was a success in that it was spearheaded by Mexican authorities and it increased the awareness and understanding within the judicial branch of the methods available to counter IP violations. However in anticipation of next year's third conference, the Embassy will encourage greater international and judicial participation as well as attempt to shift the focus to equipping the participants with the necessary tools to fairly and effectively adjudicate an IP case. End summary. Participants and U.S. Speakers -------------- ¶2. (U) The March 25-27 conference was attended by more than 250 Mexican officials, lawyers and students, including around 50 judges, court officials and experts from nine different countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Spain, and the United States). This was twice as large as the first annual international conference, held in Cancun in February ¶2008. ¶3. (U) DOJ funded the participation of U.S. District Court Judge Bernice Donald, as well as the interpretation and audio-visual services. Thanks to USPTO, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lew and Barr Weiner, Associate Director for Policy at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Combination Products, were able to participate. The Copyright Office was ably represented by Associate Register for Policy and International Affairs Maria Pallante. Renowned patent expert Dr. Ananda Chakrabarty from the University of Illinois' College of Medicine at Chicago was asked to participate by the conference organizers and was privately funded. The Conference: Weaknesses and Strengths -------------- ¶4. (U) The three-day conference was broken up into several panel discussions and keynote speeches. Patent issues were addressed, including patent criteria, patent linkage, data protection and enforcement. On copyrights, speakers took up the issues of limits and exceptions, image rights, international treaties and their implications on digital copyrights, and copyright protection. Finally, unfair competition and false advertising as they relate to trademarks were raised. ¶5. (U) Discussions often ran over time, as the speakers were engaging and the audience was inquisitive. In some cases, language barriers and distance precluded panelists from coordinating their prepared comments beforehand, making the panel appear more like three or four mini- lectures rather than a cohesive discussion. Moreover, the moderators were not effective in provoking a genuine exchange of ideas or facilitating a dialogue. MEXICO 00001034 002 OF 002 ¶6. (U) However, feedback from the attendees was very positive, particularly with respect to the caliber of the speakers and the elevated understanding of the role of the judiciary in IP protection and enforcement. Participants also appreciated the international flavor of the conference, and pointed out that it was exciting to hear so many different languages united by one cause - the importance of protecting IPR. One after another speaker stressed that in order to foster innovation and creativity, the judges, the law enforcement officials, the attorneys, the rightholders, and society as a whole have a responsibility to protect IPR, and each speaker, the Mexicans in particular, acknowledged that more needs to be done. Next Steps -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The Mexican authorities took strong ownership of this conference, which in itself is another success. However, as it was originally proposed, this conference was intended for judges, to provide them with the necessary skills to adjudicate IP cases. An unfortunate consequence of the size and diversity of the audience - consisting of judges, lawyers, officials, academics and students - was the dilution of this intent. ¶8. (SBU) The third annual international conference will be held in Merida in February 2010. The Embassy will again support this effort, and in addition to securing the attendance of U.S. judges and other experts, we will reach out to other U.S. Embassies throughout the region and elsewhere and request their assistance in encouraging more international judicial participation at this event. In addition, we will attempt to encourage the organizers to focus their efforts on judicial training; for example, infringement case studies, evidentiary admission, judicial conduct, and sentencing. The Embassy will also seek separate opportunities for judicial training. BASSETT