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looks to the Government of Costa Rica, as it implements its WTO obligations, to adopt a term of patent protection of 20 years from filing as required by TRIPs.
Ecuador has not yet ratified and implemented the 1993 U.S.-Ecuador Intellectual Property Rights Agreement. Furthermore, Ecuador has not yet repealed a GATT-inconsistent law, the Dealers' Act, which denies national treatment and protection to U.S. investment and U.S. trademarks. In the context of WTO accession, the GOE has committed to fully implement TRIPs by July 1996. We look to the GOE to implement fully our bilateral IPR Agreement and its TRIPs commitments, and to repeal the Dealers' Act.
Egypt has taken significant steps in improving the legal framework for protection of copyright works and has devoted resources to enforcing its copyright law. The United States remains seriously concerned, however, about the lack of effective patent protection in Egypt. The United States urges Egypt to enact promptly a modern patent law that provides immediate patent protection for all types of products, including pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and foodstuffs.
El Salvador's copyright law went into force in June 1994 but implementation and enforcement of the law has been extremely lax. Despite widespread piracy, there were no seizures of pirate materials by government officials until late February 1996, when police raided more than 20 establishments and seized 43,000 cassettes and videos, as well as duplication equipment, and other materials. No arrests were made as a result of these raids. The Government of El Salvador has promised additional raids in 1996, as well as instructions to judges on the proper handling of IPR cases. Salvadoran laws protecting patents and trademarks are deficient and their enforcement remains weak. The United States supports efforts by the Government of El Salvador to implement and enforce its laws and will conduct an "out-of-cycle" review of these efforts in July 1996.
Guatemala does not adequately protect pharmaceuticals and its copyright law is deficient. The United States urges Guatemala to give priority to moving copyright law reform through its legislature and to offer better patent and trademark protection. The United States remains concerned about the interception and unauthorized retransmission of U.S. satellite-carried programming by cable and multichannel microwave distribution systems.
Italy: The Italian Government stepped-up enforcement efforts over the past year, including several large well-publicized raids, particularly against copyright piracy. Nevertheless, losses due to piracy remain high. A major impediment to reducing video piracy has been the inadequacy of criminal penalties. Italy's failure to enact pending anti-piracy legislation that would significantly increase criminal penalties is a significant problem. Counterfeiting of trademark products is also a major concern for U.S. industry. The degree to which Italy provides TRIPs-mandated protection against "bootleg" sound recordings (i.e., protection of live performances) is unclear. An "out-of-cycle" review will be conducted to evaluate Italy's progress in addressing these issues. The United States will press Italy to honor its TRIPs
