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Viewing cable 06CARACAS3414, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06CARACAS3414 2006-11-16 12:15 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Caracas
VZCZCXRO0752
RR RUEHAO RUEHCD RUEHGA RUEHGD RUEHGR RUEHHA RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG
RUEHNL RUEHQU RUEHRD RUEHRG RUEHRS RUEHTM RUEHVC
DE RUEHCV #3414/01 3201215
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161215Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7043
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUEHAO/AMCONSUL CURACAO 1065
RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 0714
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 0150
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0064
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 1003
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0660
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0623
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 003414 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR, USPTO, LOC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR ECON ETRD WIPO VE
SUBJECT: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY 
PERSPECTIVE 
 
REF: A. CARACAS 486 
     B. CARACAS 3257 
     C. CARACAS 2331 
 
CARACAS 00003414  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified, please treat 
accordingly. 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
1. (SBU)  The BRV's Autonomous Intellectual Property Service 
(SAPI) held a conference on November 3-4 to discuss 
intellectual property from the ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative 
for the Americas) perspective.  The event brought together 
government officials, Cuban regime panelists, and members of 
leftist international NGOs.  All panelists eagerly bashed the 
United States and multinationals, and agreed that the current 
intellectual property rights (IPR) regime did not apply to 
developing countries.  SAPI's president said her organization 
was working to "put a brake on the present course of IPR in 
the world," while SAPI's former president (now heading the 
BRV office governing measurements and technical standards) 
said he would fight multinationals trying to "dominate" 
Venezuela.  Such declarations by government officials clearly 
signal that the BRV will continue to condone (and even 
promote) infringements of IPR on Venezuelan soil.  End 
summary. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Word from Venezuela's IPR authorities 
------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU)  On November 3-4, the BRV's Autonomous Intellectual 
Property Service (SAPI), the government agency that oversees 
IPR enforcement and issues patents, held an open-invitation 
event to discuss intellectual property from the perspective 
of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, Venezuela's 
propsed alternative to the Free Trade Area of the Americas). 
All of SAPI's leadership was present, as well as a variety of 
international guests from leftist NGOs, such as the Third 
World Network and IP Justice, and a handful of Cuban regime 
presenters.  A quick look at the sign-in sheet revealed 
attendance by supreme court officials and the Ministry of 
Light Industry and Commerce.  Despite being free to the 
public, SAPI provided complimentary briefcases, office 
materials, and refreshments.  A common theme of the 
conference was bashing the United States and multinationals, 
characterizing intellectual property rights as manifestations 
of "greedy capitalism." 
 
3.  (SBU)  SAPI's lackluster enforcement of intellectual 
property rights is in large part responsible for Venezuela's 
continued designation as a Special 301 "Priority Watch List" 
country (Ref A).  The current director of SAPI, Sorelys Soto, 
told the group that SAPI's mandate was to "make IPR known to 
the general public" and to "put a brake on the present course 
of IPR in the world."  She added that she wished to "rescue" 
IP benefits that are controlled by "a few powerful hands" and 
turn them over to the people for their collective enjoyment. 
(Note: The word "rescue" has been used by the BRV often to 
signify takeover, especially in rural land expropriations. 
End Note.) 
 
4.  (SBU)  The event's biggest star, Eduardo Saman (SAPI's 
director until April 2006 and current director of SENCAMER, 
the National Autonomous Service for Normalization, Quality, 
Measurement, and Technical Regulations) told the crowd he 
could now "die in peace" since he had already converted SAPI 
to his vision.  Using typically Bolivarian martial language, 
he added that SENCAMER was his "new trench," since 
standardization and certification are also used by 
multinationals to "dominate Venezuela." 
 
------------- 
Cubans galore 
 
CARACAS 00003414  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  SAPI's event featured at least five Cuban speakers 
(all of whom read pre-approved scripts).  Cuba's National 
Coordinator for the Cuba-Venezuela Agreement opened the 
event, noting that manufactured goods really belong to the 
workers who made them, and that the United States defends its 
"perverse capitalist system" by enforcing IPR regulations 
that protect its chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, software 
and entertainment industries.  Other Cuban presenters, 
including the Director of the Cuban Industrial Property 
Office, Maria Sanchez Torres, criticized pharmaceutical 
multinationals for not investing in third world disease 
research. 
 
6.  (SBU)  One Cuban presenter called for Cuba and Venezuela 
to "mount a resistance" to the current international IPR 
framework through an online network in defense of culture 
(www.porlacultura.com).  She also suggested organizational 
linkages, outreach to "expose" the developed world's IPR 
vision, and working within WTO and WIPO by filing complaints. 
 On November 12, the presidents of the Cuban Book Institute 
and the National Center for Venezuelan Books signed an 
agreement allowing co-management of copyrights for affiliated 
authors.  Both said the move would "do away with mechanisms 
in the publishing world that exclude editorial works from 
Cuba and Venezuela." 
 
--------------------------- 
Revolutionary IPR education 
--------------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU)  Other organizations within the BRV are aligning to 
SAPI's IPR goals.  Among them is the Bolivarian University of 
Venezuela (UBV), which according to its president, is 
"committed to a revolutionary vision."  UBV is offering a 
post-grad program in IPR, currently in its second year, and 
over 40,000 students are enrolled in university's law 
program, which "contextualizes IPR with social/community 
goals."  Saman praised the UBV's program, and added that many 
of its foreign students were attending on scholarships funded 
by Venezuela's bilateral agreements (Ref B). 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
8.  (SBU)  Attending a BRV event that so openly espouses 
links to Cuba is a rare opportunity for a U.S. official.  Not 
surprisingly, the event brought together those who share the 
same intellectual property vision -- that the current 
international IPR framework is not in the interest of 
developing countries and that it is just a tool for 
multinationals to protect their investments.  Comments by the 
BRV's IPR authorities suggest that SAPI has no intention of 
changing its anti-IPR stance and that SENCAMER, under Saman's 
leadership, will follow down SAPI's path shortly.  Despite 
some positive strides in protection of intellectual property 
by SENIAT (the Customs and Tax Agency), such as enabling 
seizures of pirated goods, it looks like the BRV will keep 
condoning widespread infringement of intellectual property 
rights in Venezuela.  End Comment. 
 
BROWNFIELD