RUSSIA AGREES TO NEXT PLENARY MEETING OF IPR

UNCLAS MOSCOW 002014 SIPDIS WHITE HOUSE ALSO FOR USTR:WILSON, HAFNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR RS WTO SUBJECT: RUSSIA AGREES TO NEXT PLENARY MEETING OF IPR WORKING GROUP REF: MOSCOW 1939 ¶1. (U) During a familiarization visit to Moscow on July 29-31, A/USTR for Europe and the Middle East Christopher Wilson met with his counterpart on the U.S.- Russia IPR Working Group Deputy Economic Development Minister Stanislav Voskresenskiy. Voskresenskiy confirmed his commitment to the WG, established as part of the U.S.-Russia bilateral agreement on intellectual property rights. Voskresenskiy agreed to having the next plenary meeting in Washington, DC during the September-October 2009 time frame. The meeting will review commitments made during the March plenary in Moscow and establish next steps in the lead up to Russia's accession to the WTO. ¶2. (U) On the sidelines of the last IPWG plenary in March, Russia requested meetings with U.S. law enforcement agencies enforcing IPR. The Russians would like to observe operations and investigations in the U.S. in order to gain practical experience and technical knowledge needed to improve their operations in Russia. Chris Wilson agreed to look into setting up such meetings as part of the next plenary in Washington. The Russians would also like to meet with U.S. royalty collecting agencies to learn about the U.S. contract based royalties structure. RUBIN