US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1652

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001652 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EB/TPP/MTA/IPE - SWILSON/JURBAN AND EUR/SE DEPT 
PASS USTR FOR JCHOE-GROVES 
DEPT PASS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS FOR STEPP 
DEPT PASS USPTO FOR JURBAN AND EWU 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/DDEFALCO AND JBOGER 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, KIPR, TU 
SUBJECT: SPECIAL 301:  Update on Copyright/Trademark 
Protection 
 
REF:  Ankara 971 
 
1. (U) Summary:  A judge in Turkey's specialized 
intellectual property courts outlined difficulties in 
rendering effective IP enforcement as well as recent and 
forthcoming changes in Turkey's IP regime.  Turkey's 
Trademark Association reported a rise in anti- 
counterfeit court cases.  The GOT provided seizure 
statistics and a roundup of recent legislation in a 
recently-issued investment climate report.  End Summary. 
 
Current Issues in the IP Court System 
------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) In a meeting with Econoff and Econ Specialist 
on March 4, Turkay Alica told us that IP enforcement is 
hampered by the fact that most cases involve petty 
street merchants rather than key figures in pirate 
networks.  Alica, who became the first judge in recent 
memory to hand down a sentence of imprisonment in an IPR 
case,  maintained that criminal penalties have a greater 
deterrent effect than civil penalties in the Turkish 
context because of the difficulty or impossibility of 
recovering damages from street sellers.  The court 
system is further taxed by repeat trials for some 
convicted pirates, required because 2004 legislation 
reduced penalties for some IP crimes.  These retrials 
add at least six months to a case, and as much as an 
additional two years if the case is appealed to the 
Supreme Court.  Alica told us the Ankara IPR Court had 
made 260 rulings and finalized 60 percent of its pending 
cases as of December 2004. 
 
3. (SBU) Alica noted the impact of new and prospective 
legislation and regulations.  He noted that the GOT 
plans to introduce new trademark legislation to replace 
the current decree with the force of law.  The draft 
trademark law defines the infringement crimes in detail 
and governs whether cases will be subject to criminal or 
civil provisions.  A new copyright bill focuses on 
banderole control and enforcement.  The judge also 
explained that that the new Criminal Code entering into 
force April 1 will create alternatives in dispute 
resolution.  According to the new code and with the 
consent of the parties, public prosecutors will in some 
cases be authorized to appoint a mediator rather than 
sending the case through the judicial process.  Alica 
also said that the recent Ministry of Justice decree on 
investigating convicted pirates for tax evasion should 
increase both deterrents to piracy and public awareness 
of the problem (reftel). 
 
Trademark Owners on Increased Court Cases 
----------------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) Representatives of the Trademark Association 
(TMD) recently told the press that they expected the 
Justice Ministry decree and the new Criminal Code to 
have a deterrent effect on counterfeiters.  The press 
reports an upswing in court cases against counterfeiters 
following issuance of the decree, including cases 
launched by Pfizer and Hewlett Packard.  TMD President 
Selcuk Guzenge claimed that the counterfeit market in 
Turkey was as high as much as USD 4 billion and 
generated exports of USD 200 million.  These figures are 
compiled from member company estimates, and exclude 
counterfeit pharmaceuticals.   Guzenge told us that he 
believes that the GOT is focusing more on copyright 
piracy than on trademark counterfeiting, and said his 
organization will launch a "No to Counterfeit" campaign 
in the near future. 
 
Investment Climate Report Includes IP Review 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
5. (U) Following up on recommendations generated at the 
2004 Investor Advisory Council (IAC) meeting, which 
brought the Prime Minister together with CEOs of major 
multinationals, the GOT issued a Progress Report (see 
http://www.hazine.gov.tr/ybs/ydk_rapor_eng.pd f), which 
includes a section on efforts to strengthen intellectual 
property protection.  In particular, the GOT reports 
seizure data for the period since March 2004 as follows: 
 
-- Compact disks (1,048,832), 
-- VCDs (365,231), 
-- DVDs (24,065), 
-- Books (35,008) and 
-- Tape cassettes (23,801). 
 
6. (U) The IAC report also notes the following 
legislation adopted in 2004: 
 
-- Law 5101 amending various laws (related to copyright, 
including the ban on street sales); 
-- Law 5147 on Protecting Integrated Circuitry 
Topographies 
-- Law 5118 on Ratification of Trademark Law Treaty 
-- Law 5117 on Ratification of the Geneva (1999) Act of 
the Hague Agreement Concerning the International 
Registration of Industrial Designs.  Edelman