US embassy cable - 04OTTAWA3420

UNCLAS OTTAWA 003420 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN (BREESE AND HOLST) EB/TPP/BTA/EWH: 
(MATTHEWMAN, AARON);  EB/TPP/IPC (ADAMO, WILSON) 
 
STATE PASS USTR FOR SAGE CHANDLER 
 
USDOC FOR 4320/OFFICE OF NAFTA (ZIMMERMAN); 3134/OIO/WESTERN 
HEMISPHERE; 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR, ETRD, CA, NAFTA, Technology 
SUBJECT: IPR WEBSITE: CANADA 
 
REF: State 224924 
 
1.  Post regrets delay in response to reftel. 
 
2.  Econ Counselor discussed the pros and cons of developing 
an IPR toolkit for Canada with FCS colleagues, who have 
experience with the highly successful China IPR toolkit. 
Our conclusion is that developing a similar project for 
Canada is not the most effective way of approaching IPR 
concerns here. 
 
3.  As an English-speaking country with a reasonably 
accessible regulatory process, and an effective law 
enforcement system and judiciary, Canada does not present 
the same kinds of challenges as China, e.g. corruption and 
lack of transparency and enforcement.  U.S. IPR owners do 
not appear, from our experience, to have trouble navigating 
the system.  We therefore do not see the need to go beyond 
the information in the Country Commercial Guide with IPR- 
specific materials. 
 
4.  Rather, U.S. company concerns about IPR protection in 
Canada are focused primarily on the substance of Canadian 
IPR rules, e.g. failure so far to ratify WIPO, which has 
resulted in damaging ambiguity about the illegality of 
filesharing in Canada.  U.S. firms, and Canadian IPR 
enforcement experts, are also frustrated by some aspects of 
the Canadian legal system related to IPR enforcement.  These 
include the higher thresholds of evidence, and highly 
specific information, required to initiate an IPR 
enforcement case, the limited powers of Canada Customs 
officials to pursue suspected violations on their own 
authority, and the competition for law enforcement resources 
with other priorities.  IPR enforcement and related issues 
are part of the Mission law enforcement agenda discussed at 
the annual Cross-Border Crime Forum in October 2004, and US 
DHS/ICE officials have attended RCMP-sponsored events such 
as a week-long workshop in Toronto on IPR enforcement.  U.S. 
firms have actively pursued enforcement cases here, often in 
conjunction with their Canadian counterparts.  Mission DHS 
officers are also involved in efforts to energize bilateral 
cooperation on IPR cases through the NAFTA Enforcement 
Working Group.