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Viewing cable 05PRETORIA883, POST INPUT ON SPECIAL 301

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
05PRETORIA883 2005-03-01 05:02 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Pretoria
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 000883 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
DEPT FOR EB/IPE SWILSON; AF/S KGAITHER 
USDOC FOR 4510/ITA/IEP/ANESA/OA/JDIEMOND 
COMMERCE ALSO FOR HVINEYARD 
TREASURY FOR OWHYCHE-SHAW 
DEPT PASS USPTO FOR MADLIN 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR PCOLEMAN, WJACKSON, AND VESPINEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR ETRD SF USTR
SUBJECT: POST INPUT ON SPECIAL 301 
 
REF:  (A) State 30790 
      (B) State 23950 
      (C) 2004 Pretoria 5433 
      (D) 2004 Pretoria 4424 
      (E) 2004 State 169178 
      (F) 204 Windhoek 905 
 
(U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified.  Not for 
Internet Distribution. 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary.  IIPA's comments on IPR problems in South 
Africa are consistent with post's assessment on South 
Africa's deficiencies in dealing with the copying of 
educational texts, the shortcomings of copyright law, and 
the transiting of pirated goods.  Ambassador Zoellick 
reiterated to SACU ministers in Walvis Bay in December that 
the FTA must be comprehensive and cover IPR.  The FTA 
negotiation remains an important venue for pursuing a remedy 
to these issues. Post, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 
and the Intellectual Property Action Group (IPACT) have 
organized workshops on IPR issues with South African 
government officials, prosecutors and magistrates.  The 
South Africans National Prosecuting Authority has cooperated 
with these efforts by having the country's prosecutors 
attend IPACT workshops on enforcement issues affecting 
copyright, trademarks, and counterfeit goods.  Post and 
IPACT have plans to roll out the IPR workshops to South 
Africa's in the next three months.  End summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) Per instructions in reftel A, post has reviewed 
the information submitted by the International Intellectual 
Property Alliance (IIPA) identifying several countries as 
"Special Mention."  The information provided on South Africa 
in this document is consistent with what Embassy understands 
from observations and contacts with South African IPR 
experts.  According to a knowledgeable source, unauthorized 
photocopying of educational texts on university campuses is 
a serious problem that pits the publishing industry against 
South African librarians.  Provisions on fair use are not 
settled.  The IIPA comments on problems in copyright law 
mirror what post has submitted for the National Trade 
Estimates Report on Trade Barriers (Ref C) regarding the IPR 
industry's requests for amendments that would address the 
lack of criminal penalties for end user piracy, lack of 
presumptions relating to copyright subsistence and 
ownership, and non-deterrent civil damages.  Delay on moving 
this issue forward lies with DTI.  The SACU FTA negotiation 
remains an important venue for pursuing these issues, 
particularly as a DTI official with lead responsibility on 
legislative matters leads the SACU side on IPR issues. 
 
3.  (SBU) The IIPA report also raises the concern of the 
South African Revenue Service (SARS) not detaining 
contraband in transit.  At a recent meeting of the 
Intellectual Property Action (IPACT) training subcommittee, 
a South African lawyer specializing in intellectual property 
law similarly mentioned the need to amend South African law 
in order to clarify that it does apply to pirated goods that 
are passing through the country in transit, not only those 
that are entering the country.  Apparently a recent court 
ruling suggests the Counterfeit Goods Act does not cover 
goods in transit.  This makes it difficult, for example, to 
seize containers arriving in the port of Durban that have 
goods believed to be counterfeit.  Even if the companies can 
get the government enforcers to intervene, it is very 
expensive for the industry, which has to pay the costs for 
detaining and storing the goods because of the inadequacy of 
government storage depots.  Moreover, the industry questions 
whether the pirated goods are actually in transit; the 
shipping invoice may name a different country as a 
destination, but this could be fraudulent, with South Africa 
being the actual place where the goods end up. 
 
FTA 
--- 
 
4.  (SBU) The negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) 
with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) began to 
discuss IPR issues (a "phase two" issue) in the three rounds 
held in 2004-Walvis Bay, Maseru and Atlanta.  Because the 
talks stalled since the June 2004 round, there has not been 
an opportunity for further detailed discussion.  In his 
meeting with SACU ministers in Walvis Bay in December 2004 
(reftel E), however, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador 
Robert Zoellick, reiterated the need for a comprehensive FTA 
that covers all the issues, including IPR. 
 
Post Efforts with USPTO and IPACT 
--------------------------------- 
 
5.  (U) Post continues to work with IPACT and the U.S. 
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to develop programs that 
raise the awareness of IPR enforcement issues.  On August 
23, 2004, the USPTO, IPACT and the U.S. Embassy organized 
the Workshop on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights 
in Johannesburg.  The USPTO funded the event (Reftel D). 
Over sixty South African government officials participated, 
including representatives of the Department of Trade and 
Industry (DTI), DTI's Companies and Intellectual Property 
Registration Office (CIPRO), the Department of Health, the 
South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African 
Revenue Service (SARS), the Department of Foreign Affairs 
(DFA) and the Registrar of Trade Marks and Patents. 
Managers from leading U.S. pharmaceutical companies also 
attended and discussed solutions to their problems with SAG 
officials.  USPTO Attorney Advisor Michael Adlin delivered 
well-received presentations on counterfeit medicines and 
effective enforcement tools against optical disc and digital 
piracy.  A representative of the SA Department of Health 
discussed enforcement using the Medicines Control Act.  A 
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) official discussed 
optical disc and digital piracy.  (Note:  She attended the 
USPTO Enforcement Academy program in October 2004 in 
Virginia.)  The Chairman of the Business Software Alliance 
(BSA) discussed software piracy issues.  The group marketing 
director of Johnnic Communications spoke on the importance 
of IPR enforcement for the film industry.   The 
Superintendent of the Computer Unit of the South African 
Police Force discussed investigative techniques along with 
two representatives of the South African Revenue Service. 
The media also covered the event. 
 
6.  (U) IPACT organized a pilot project for over 60 
prosecutors from Gauteng province (which includes the major 
metropolitan areas of Pretoria and Johannesburg) on 
September 21, 2004.  Private sector IPR experts and 
attorneys focused on South Africa's Counterfeit Goods Act, 
discussed copyright and trademark enforcement issues, and 
described the economic harm of pirated goods.  There were 
also sections on expert evidence preparation, criminal case 
examples, and case study workshops.  IPACT described the 
event as a public private partnership.  IPACT presented the 
same program to South African magistrates at the Justice 
College in Pretoria on November 29. 
 
7. (U) During the next three months, Post, in conjunction 
with IPACT, will sponsor this same workshop with national 
prosecutors in the rest of the country:  Polokwane, 
Nelspruit, Blomfontein, Kimberley, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth 
and Durban (the major cities in South Africa's other 
provinces).  South Africa's National Prosecuting Office is 
coordinating this effort by directing its prosecutors to 
attend. 
 
8.  (U) Post passed on the points from reftel A to officials 
at DTI during the visit of Commerce DAS Holly Vineyard on 
February 18. 
 
FRAZER