US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI134

UNCLAS TAIPEI 000134 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC AND EB/TPP/MTA/IPC, STATE PASS AIT/W 
AND USTR, USTR FOR KI AND FREEMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR, ECON, IPR 
SUBJECT: SPECIAL 301 OUT-OF-CYCLE REVIEW NOTIFICATION - 
TAIWAN 
 
REF: SECSTATE 7689 
 
1.  Econ Chief met January 13 with Taiwan Intellectual 
Property Office Deputy Director General Jack Lu to deliver 
reftel points and delivered the same message in a call to 
Ministry of Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Steve Chen. 
Chen and Lu welcomed the news that Taiwan would be downgraded 
from the Special 301 Priority Watch List to the Watch List, 
but they both expressed disappointment that Taiwan will 
remain on the Special 301 list. 
 
2.  Lu noted that Taiwan officials will continue to take 
additional steps to further the protection of intellectual 
property, including a planned crackdown on copyright and 
trademark pirates scheduled for the Chinese New Year holiday, 
a recent meeting to develop a work-plan for combating 
internet piracy, continuing plans to create a specialized IP 
Court, and plans to create an internet academy to train 
enforcement officials on ways to combat internet piracy.  Lu 
noted that he had met with representatives from three major 
rights-holders groups in the last week (the Motion Picture 
Association, the Business Software Alliance, and the 
International Federation of Phonographic Industries) and that 
TIPO would continue to work closely with these groups to 
improve IPR protection in Taiwan. 
 
3.  Lu then asked what steps would be necessary to support 
Taiwan's removal from the Special 301 Watch List.  Econ Chief 
responded that the US Government and rights-holder groups 
still have concerns about Taiwan's protection of 
pharmaceutical data, the continued operation of Peer to Peer 
(P2P) services Kuro and EZPeer, and the slow progress of 
cases through the judicial system, among other issues.  He 
encouraged Taiwan to continue to take steps to deal with 
these problems in order create the kind of environment for 
intellectual property protection that will encourage 
innovation in Taiwan. 
PAAL