US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT762

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000762 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP 
TUNIS FOR NATALIE BROWN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2014 
TAGS: PREL, KIPR, KU 
SUBJECT: (C) SPECIAL 301:  AMBASSADOR PRESSES FONMIN FOR 
PROGRESS 
 
 
Classified By: AMB. RICHARD H. JONES; REASON 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1.  (C)  Ambassador met March 6 with Foreign Minister Shaykh 
Dr. Mohammed al-Sabah (other topics septels).  During the 
meeting, he informed the Minister that our required annual 
report on Special 301 will show Kuwait as the weakest of the 
GCC states when it comes to  protection of intellectual 
property rights (IPR), particularly copyrights and 
trademarks.  The Minister, citing Microsoft officials, 
retorted that he understood the Dubai area was far worse.  He 
claimed that most of the pirated copies in Kuwait come from 
Djebel Ali, "a real pirate's den." 
 
2.  (C) The Ambassador replied that the UAE has made rapid 
progress in the past few years, so much so that some American 
manufacturers are now opening plants there.  By contrast, the 
Ambassador went on, some Kuwaiti artists had told him they 
refused to publish here because piracy is so prevalent.  He 
noted that he had raised this issue with Minister of 
Information Mohammed Abulhassan during his first call on him 
last July; while Abulhassan had acknowledged the problem, the 
Embassy was forced to conclude it was getting worse: 
software piracy in small/medium enterprises exceeds 90 
percent; the optical piracy rate is the highest in the 
region; the GOK has not replied to our requests for updates 
on the Copyright Law and the status of WIPO treaties. 
JONES