US embassy cable - 05PARIS1578

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001578 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EB/TPP, EUR/ERA, and EUR/WE 
 
STATE PASS USTR 
 
COMMERCE FOR USPTO 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KIPR, ETRD, FR 
SUBJECT: FRENCH STEP UP ANTIPIRACY EFFORTS; INTERESTED IN 
SHARING INFORMATION WITH U.S. 
 
REF: 04 PARIS 5159 
 
NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
1. (U) ACTION REQUEST AND COMMENT: See para 9. 
 
2. (U) SUMMARY.  Nine months after launching an aggressive 
antipiracy and counterfeiting plan (reftel), the French 
government is stepping up its training and coordination 
efforts overseas against piracy of consumer and luxury 
goods.  By mid-2005, GOF officials say they will have close 
to forty new positions overseas partially or fully 
responsible for coordinating international anti-piracy 
training programs, in Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern 
Europe.   GOF officials told Robert Stoll, USPTO Director of 
Enforcement, that the government has made a priority of 
fighting piracy and counterfeiting since 2004, though it has 
not yet put into place a centralized structure to better 
coordinate its efforts.  GOF officials and private sector 
representatives appreciated Stoll's visit, and say they are 
open to sharing information and approaches with the U.S. in 
third countries, particularly in key countries like Poland. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
3.  (U) During a visit to Paris, Robert Stoll, U.S. Patent 
and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director of Enforcement met 
with French officials and representatives of the Union of 
Manufacturers, the main private sector association involved 
in antipiracy efforts.  At the Ministry of Economy, Finance 
and Industry, he met with Elie Beauroy and Marie-Jose 
Semence (DGTPE, trade ministry equivalents; Philippe 
Kearney, Deputy Director French Customs and Sophie Meynard, 
IP office director, French Customs; Claudine Segelle, Fraud 
unit chief, Ministry of Finance' Philippe Lagauche, Police 
Judiciaire (prosecutor's office); Jean-Baptiste Moziconacci, 
Head of Assistance at INPI (National Institute of Industrial 
Property).  At the Foreign Ministry, he met with deputy G8 
coordinator Jean-Francois Chouvet. Stoll was accompanied by 
Trade Policy Officer. 
 
4. (SBU) GOF officials told Stoll that the GOF would be 
placing 38 trained experts in anti-piracy in key embassies 
around the world to coordinate international IP programs and 
liaise with host governments.  Officials are drawn from the 
patent office (INPI), the trade ministry (DGTPE) and 
customs.  These detailees are in the process of being placed 
in Beijing, Rabat, Beirut, Bangkok and other key spots.  The 
French work through bilateral agreements, in which joint 
committees supervise the activities.  France has bilateral 
agreements with most of its interlocutors in the Middle East 
and Asia.  The level of activity of each committee varies. 
For example, the activity level of the French-Russian 
committee is low and less effective due to the overwhelming 
corruption among Russian officials. 
 
5.  (U) The GOF has also been stepping up its bilateral 
training programs in those regions, as well as in Central 
and South America.  Financing for this training often comes 
partially from the European Commission's technical 
assistance programs such as TACIS.  The training resembles 
U.S. efforts in similar areas, focusing on customs 
enforcement and capacity building and review of intellectual 
property rights.  The GOF is also interested in pursuing 
more cost-effective distance learning programs (e-learning), 
and appeared interested in U.S. role-playing training 
methods. 
 
Organization 
------------ 
6.  (U) The French admitted that apart from the general 
ministerial directive, issued at the same time of the 
"Sarkozy plan" (as the antipiracy plan is known) there is no 
centralized coordinating body at the political level. 
Broader priorities are determined by the CNAC (National Anti- 
Counterfeiting Council), which is supervised by the Minister 
of Industry.  Other interagency groups meet on an ad hoc 
basis with regard to international obligations and because 
of this informal structure GOF officials admitted they have 
no "IP czar" yet.  The GOF structure is open to input from 
consumer groups and other "social actors", but those groups 
have less influence, GOF officials say, than in the U.S. 
The most effective argument for fighting piracy in France, 
say GOF officials,  seems to be protecting the safety of 
goods, i.e. consumer protection, rather than protecting 
jobs. 
 
G-8 Follow-up? 
-------------- 
7.  (U) At the Foreign Ministry, Stoll recalled the IP 
proposal that France had made in February 2004 in the run-up 
to the Sea Island G8 summit.   Chouvet, who is Sous-sherpa 
Alain Le Roy's deputy, noted that while the French proposal 
from February 2004 still was valid, the UK presidency had 
other priorities, particularly focused on Africa (not a 
common priority region for fighting piracy). He did note 
that the UK had indeed offered to review implementation of 
the previous G8 recommendations for the past three years, 
and that IP cooperation could come up there. 
 
Concern over Poland: "Europe's last firewall" 
--------------------------------------------- 
8.  (SBU) French industry representatives told Stoll they 
were deeply concerned about Poland, which they regard as 
"Europe's last firewall".  Located on the border next to 
Ukraine, Poland plays a key role in preventing pirate goods 
from entering the European Union's distribution channels. 
The Union des Fabricants (UIF) plays a key role in all 
French public/private cooperation, including luxury goods 
but also consumer products.   The association, which 
represents all goods companies, works closely with the GOF 
to train officials and provide intelligence to foreign 
governments and agencies.   UIF contacts noted that with 
poorly established distribution channels, Poland's own 
economy was open to criminal and counterfeiting networks, 
and that vulnerability could spread to Eastern and Western 
Europe. The UIF's director general Christine Lai said she 
would appreciate sharing approaches on improving training 
and information collection in Poland.  She also expressed 
interest in sharing information on how to combat piracy 
online, both in terms of legal approaches and practical 
issues.  Stoll explained the U.S.'s approach to fighting 
website piracy, and offered to share information  on Poland. 
 
9.  (U) ACTION REQUEST AND COMMENT.  USPTO Director Stoll's 
visit was well received by both the French government 
officials and the French private sector.  After reviewing 
both U.S. and French initiatives on piracy, French officials 
agreed there was considerable common ground.   Stoll offered 
an initial informal exchange of information with the 
principal French private sector industry group (UIF) on 
training and enforcement in Poland.  Embassy believes that 
there is good potential for further cooperative work - 
particularly in third countries -- in the anti-piracy, anti- 
counterfeiting area.  Embassy would appreciate Washington's 
views on possibilities for 
any further bilateral and EU cooperation in this area. 
Leach