UZBEKISTAN: THE IMPOSSIBLE IPR DREAM?

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TASHKENT 000285

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN
PASS TO USTR JENNIFER CHOE
GROVES
DEPARTMENT FOR EEB/TPP/IPE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: THE IMPOSSIBLE IPR DREAM?

REF: 08 TASHKENT 239 09 TASHKENT 235

TASHKENT 00000285 001.2 OF 003



1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On March 10 Ibragim Amanbaev,
Acting Director of the Uzbek Copyright Agency,
brought us up to date on the current status of IPR
legislation and enforcement in Uzbekistan. The
picture he painted was one of an underfunded,
understaffed agency in which a total of four IPR
inspectors are responsible for the entire country.
We were impressed, however, with the earnestness of
Amanbaev and his staff and the work that his agency
is doing under difficult conditions. The Uzbek
Copyright Agency would welcome, and we support,
assistance and training programs through USPTO, the
Department of Commerce, and other U.S. agencies.
END SUMMARY


FROM SOVIET ASHES: DEVELOPMENT OF IPR IN
UZBEKISTAN
-------------- --------------
-


2. (SBU) On March 10 we met with Ibragim Amanbaev,
Acting Director of Uzbek Copyright Agency (UCA),to
get an understanding of how protection of
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is progressing
in Uzbekistan. Today's UCA had its origin as the
Uzbek branch of the Soviet Union's All-Union
Copyright Agency, an organization that had no
concept of IPR as it existed in the rest of the
world. UCA became a standalone agency after
Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991. For most
of the eighteen years since then, UCA has operated
on the basis of Presidential decrees and
instructions issued by the Government of Uzbekistan
(GOU).


3. (SBU) Uzbekistan has the long-term goal of
joining the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Consequently, the GOU has been attempting to
develop IPR legislation in accordance with the
requirements and standards of the WTO's Agreement
on Trade Aspects of Intellectual Property. In the
summer of 2006 the GOU finally adopted a law on
copyrights and allied rights, which created the
legal framework for further IPR development and
enforcement in Uzbekistan. The law also aimed to
bring Uzbekistan into accordance with the Bern
Convention on Protection of Literature and Art
Products. When it joined the Bern Convention,
however, Uzbekistan did so with caveats on Article
18 (ref A).

CURRENT STATE OF IPR
--------------


4. (SBU) Since 2006 the UCA has acted in accordance
with the 2006 IPR law and several other regulatory
documents issued in 2007 and 2008. UCA is doing
its best to keep IPR issues on the GOU's agenda
with the goal of improving both legislation and
enforcement. Amanbaev said, however, that the
Uzbek market is not ready for strict IPR
enforcement since the very concept of IPR is new to
Uzbekistan. UCA is doing its best to educate the
population, market players, businesses, authors,
and copyright holders via frequent articles in the
mass media. Nevertheless, lack of understanding of
what IPR stands for continues to create confusion
and loose enforcement.


5. (SBU) Amanbaev continued that there are still
many holes in Uzbekistan's IPR legislation and
enforcement. A good example is licensing. For

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example, the Uzbek Movie Agency Uzbekkino issues
licenses to produce movies, and local government
agencies issue licenses to entrepreneurs to
reproduce and sell CDs and DVDs. But neither
Uzbekkino nor the local agencies have a role in IPR
enforcement. Thus UCA has requested that the GOU
appoint it as the single agency to issue licenses
and enforce IPR. UCA is working with the GOU to
identify a broad spectrum of IPR issues that must
be addressed in order to have comprehensive
legislation and an empowered UCA that has full IPR
enforcement authority and the tools to regulate the
market.


6. (SBU) Amanbaev acknowledged that imperfect
legislation makes it hard to fight counterfeiting.
Moreover, most copyright holders do not take the
initiative to protect their copyrights or even to
make their works available in a legal, licensed
product. In the absence of claims from
manufacturers and authors, UCA can not take action
to protect them.

FOUR IPR INSPECTORS FOR AN ENTIRE COUNTRY
--------------


7. (SBU) UCA faces organizational hurdles too. To
begin with, it has a staff of only sixteen. Of
these, only 4 (FOUR) are actual IPR inspectors.
The rest are administrative staff. Thus 4 IPR
inspectors have responsibility for IPR
investigations in a country of 27 million. These 4
inspectors are based in Tashkent, and UCA has no
presence in the provinces.


8. (SBU) Even if he had the money to hire
additional staff, Amanbaev said it would be almost
impossible to find qualified inspectors. There are
no programs in Uzbekistan to train IPR specialists.
Amanbaev said he wants to strengthen his
organization's capacity and that training is key.
He said he would be very interested in working with
appropriate U.S. agencies on IPR issues and would
welcome opportunities to send his staff to the U.S.
for training and to participate in IPR programs.


9. (SBU) Amanbaev told us his main task for the
future is to continue working within the GOU --
through amendments to the 2006 IPR law if necessary
-- to give his agency more enforcement authority
and make it the sole organization responsible for
IPR issues in Uzbekistan. To date, he continued,
UCA has had to turn to other law enforcement
agencies -- for example the tax agency, the
prosecutors office, and police --to conduct raids
on vendors of counterfeit DVDs and CDs. He said
UCA needs to establish branches in every region of
the country in order to provide IPR protection at
regional and local levels.

COMMENT
--------------


10. (SBU) UCA clearly is still in the position of
having to prove its worth to the GOU, but from
Amanbaev's description it appears that UCA's
standing has improved in recent years. UCA now has
some influence, and its role is likely to increase
if the GOU wishes to pursue WTO membership
seriously. Adequate IPR protection will be
necessary if Uzbekistan is to have any chance of
WTO membership.


11. (SBU) As we left, we stood with Mr. Amanbaev on
the steps of the Copyright Agency and looked across

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Navoi Street to Tashkent's largest, most popular
string of electronics shops and stalls. We
expressed our doubt that it would be possible to
find a single licensed CD or DVD for sale in these
shops (ref B),and Amanbaev did not protest.


12. (SBU) Post strongly supports UCA's
participation in training programs through USPTO,
the Department of Commerce, and other U.S.
agencies. We sensed sincerity in Mr. Amanbaev and
his associates and a vision that someday his agency
would have the power and authority to bring
Uzbekistan into the modern world of IPR. Meanwhile
we are haunted by the thought that 4 lonely IPR
inspectors are traveling the potholed byways of
Uzbekistan, tilting at windmills, and dreaming the
impossible dream.
NORLAND