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As a result of these TRIPs obligations, several trading partners amended their intellectual property laws over the past year. These include Japan, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Greece and Austria.
Another very significant event occurring within the past month was enactment of a modern patent law in Brazil. "This new law, once implemented, will help establish Brazil's leadership in the region in terms of the protection intellectual property rights, and will make Brazil a more attractive location for technology-based investment," Barshefsky noted.
Other significant progress toward improving the protection of intellectual property worldwide is set out in the attached document entitled: Developments in Intellectual Property Rights. This progress included new laws, measures or commitments to improve copyright protection in such trading partners as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Latvia, Moldova, Panama, Peru, Romania, Turkey, the Ukraine, and Venezuela. In the industrial property area, progress along these same lines occurred in Bolivia, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Japan, Panama, Peru, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, the UAE, and Venezuela.
WTO Dispute Settlement
On the occasion of the April 1995 special 301 announcement, USTR gave notice to its trading partners that it expected them to implement on schedule their obligations under the WTO, including the TRIPs Agreement. USTR has monitored closely such implementation and has moved aggressively when a failure to implement has adversely affected U.S. economic interests.
In this context, on February 9 USTR initiated WTO dispute settlement proceedings against Japan because of its failure to protect the rights of U.S. performing artists and producers who recorded during a twenty-five year period from 1946 to 1971. Similarly, on March 11 USTR announced initiation of WTO dispute settlement proceedings against Canada because of discriminatory practices it has adopted to protect its domestic magazine industry.
Barshefsky today announced that she will, as a result of this year's Special 301 review, initiate four additional WTO dispute settlement actions now or in the near future against Portugal, Turkey, India and Pakistan for their failure to fulfill certain IPR-related WTO obligations. These actions will be conducted within the context of self-initiated Section 301 investigations.
These actions can be summarized as follows:
