US embassy cable - 04BRASILIA2870

UNCLAS BRASILIA 002870 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR, ETRD, ECON, BEXP, KCRM, BR, IPR & Biotech 
SUBJECT: DEVELOPMENT OF WEBSITE IPR MATERIALS 
 
REF:  SECSTATE 224924 
 
1. Embassy Brasilia offers the following thoughts in 
response to reftel's request to consider development of 
post specific, IPR-related web-site materials, citing the 
China "IPR Toolkit" as an example.  Please see action 
request in para 5. 
 
2. Brazil is a major market for counterfeit and pirated 
products.  The International Intellectual Property Alliance 
(IIPA) estimates that $785 million were lost by U.S. 
copyright industries alone in 2003 due to piracy; Brazil is 
on USTR's special 301 priority watch list.  In 2001, IIPA 
filed a petition to remove trade benefits from Brazil under 
the Generalized System of Preferences; that review is still 
on-going.  Although Brazil's patent law is largely TRIPs 
compliant, weak management of the national patent institute 
and a lack of resources over a number of years have 
resulted in an estimated 60,000-70,000 patent application 
backlog. 
 
3. Given the substantial commercial risk in Brazil 
resulting from piracy, counterfeiting, and a stalled patent 
system, post welcomes the suggestion of making information 
on Brazil's intellectual property regime available on our 
website in an effort to aid U.S. companies.  However, to 
develop materials in line with the China IPR toolkit, post 
would require financial assistance.  Mission does not have 
any officers who work solely on IPR issues; dedicating 
staff to development of in-house material on the scale of 
the China IPR toolkit would severely undermine our ability 
to cover other essential elements of our work in Brazil. 
To avoid the potential misperception that the USG is 
providing legal advice, we also believe it best that 
detailed guidance be provided by legal professionals. 
 
4.  Mission resources would enable staff to produce an 
overview section on IPR protection in Brazil by February 
next year; post proposes contracting with a local IPR 
law/consulting firm to provide the detailed "how to" 
information for each type of IPR protection.  This material 
would draw heavily from and be linked to Brazil's National 
Patent Institute (INPI) website, which already has in-depth 
information in English on pertinent laws, regulations, 
international treaties and application/registration 
procedures for the protection of patents, trademarks, and 
industrial designs.  In addition to augmenting the INPI 
information as necessary, the local firm would provide 
detailed "how-to" information covering copyright 
protection.   Post estimates the cost of contracting out 
development of such material at around $10,000 with 
turnaround time of one to two months. 
 
5.  Action Request:  Embassy requests that Washington 
agencies consider making funds available for development by 
a local firm of more detailed guidance for protecting 
specific intellectual property rights in Brazil. 
Meanwhile, Post will move forward with drafting an IPR 
overview for placement on the Embassy website, drawing 
heavily from the National Trade Estimate report and Country 
Commercial Guide. 
 
CHICOLA