US embassy cable - 02AMMAN4648

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 004648 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
USPTO FOR DAVID MORFESI 
STATE PLEASE PASS USTR FOR ESAUMS 
USDOC FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/PTHANOS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, KIPR, ECON, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN IPR UPDATE: MIXED OUTLOOK 
 
REF:  A) 01 AMMAN 5859; B) STATE 135231 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (SBU) Jordan's record on enforcement of IPR laws 
has been improving steadily over the past six months. 
However, greater awareness of the impact of lax IPR 
enforcement on Jordanian industries as well as further 
reform of existing IPR legislation and prosecution is 
still needed if Jordan is to fulfill all of its 
obligations under the WTO and the Jordan-U.S. FTA. 
Courses like the proposed USPTO conference on 
specialized IP courts help in this regard.  End 
Summary. 
 
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ENFORCEMENT 
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2.  (SBU) The Director of the National Library (the 
government entity charged with copyright registration 
and IPR enforcement), Ma'moun Talhouni, has been a 
much more effective enforcer of Jordan's IPR 
legislation than his predecessors.  Since his 
appointment on July 22, 2001, the number of raids on 
illegal audio-visual outlets has increased to more 
than a thousand, and the number of cases brought by 
the National Library to the district attorney between 
July 23, 2001 and august, 2002 totaled 350 cases, with 
about 125 of these in July.  This compares to 38 cases 
filed between July 2000 and July 2001 and 6 cases the 
year before.  If one such outlet gets raided twice in 
a row and is found harboring pirated materials, then 
in addition to the fine, licensees are invited to file 
a civil suit against it.  Talhouni told us that a good 
percentage of the patent/trademark/copyright 
infringement cases referred to the courts for 
prosecution receive sentences. 
 
3.  (U) Talhouni told econchief he thought fines and 
jail time could be harsher so as to be more effective 
deterrents.  Still, the substantial increase in the 
number of raids and the number of cases brought in 
front of the courts has made life harder for vendors 
of pirated goods.  As the hassle of being raided and 
then going through the legal process bears fruit, some 
shopkeepers are even starting to report the names of 
other offenders with whom they compete. 
 
4.  (SBU) In order to take stock of the quantity and 
quality of these sentences, the National Library has 
sent out a survey to the judges of the courts of first 
instance.  The survey inquires about the number of IPR 
cases, the percentage that receive sentences, their 
quality and severity, and problems with each case. 
The survey also aims to evaluate ways the National 
Library can help improve its presentation of each case 
and close any legal loopholes so that it can ensure 
logical and deterrent sentences.  Since most raids are 
still conducted without police support, some 
irregularities take place and render the ensuing cases 
vulnerable to legal questioning.  Better coordination 
with the police department is needed in this respect. 
 
5.  (U) According to IPR watchers, however, many 
National Library cases have failed in courts because 
library officials did not follow proper law 
enforcement procedures, and because with little 
manpower (just six officers), National Library staff 
have no time to testify in courts themselves.  Under 
the law, the burden of the proof lies on the 
prosecutor to prove intent.  Many defendants take 
advantage of this by claiming ignorance of the law and 
of any wrongdoing to escape prosecution.  Defense 
attorneys are also using the latter and are becoming 
better at finding loopholes in the law and in the 
legal procedures used by the enforcement officials to 
get their clients off the hook. 
 
6.  (U) Furthermore, Talhouni complains that rights- 
holders or other parties whose interests are harmed by 
piracy are not being sufficiently active in protecting 
their rights and in assisting the library. 
 
7.  (U) In addition, the copyright law, despite being 
TRIPS-consistent, still suffers from various loopholes 
that need to be closed.  Finally, Jordan has yet to 
ACCEDE to the WCT, the WPPT and some ARTICLES of the 
Paris convention dealing with patent protection and 
geographical indicators, though it has committed to do 
so under the terms of the U.S.-Jordan FTA.  In an 
important step forward, a local legal firm 
specializing in IPR protection wrote a position paper, 
for the private sector on their IPR needs.  The firm 
offered its assistance to the group in lobbying the 
GOJ to take more stringent IPR measures in advance of 
the FTA joint commission meeting. 
 
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Operational hurdles 
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8.  (U) With a staff of just six copyright enforcement 
officers throughout Jordan, the National Library 
remains clearly short on qualified manpower.  The 
prime minister recently approved a special 30 percent 
basic salary raise for the over-worked enforcement 
staff in order to make salaries more competitive with 
the private sector.  Still, library salaries are as 
low as USD 150 per month.  USAID, through its AMIR 
program has donated six computers to the National 
Library.  However, the National Library remains in 
acute need of new cars, digital cameras, photocopiers, 
and facilities.  Its staff needs more training, new 
pc's and software, mobile phones, English language 
training, and incentives for working late and 
irregular hours.  It also needs to develop a database 
of licensees in order to contact them immediately to 
sue when a case is referred to the courts.  Finally, 
the role of the National Library and its positive 
impact needs to be publicized and linked in the minds 
of Jordanians to the potential impact on Jordan's 
economy. 
 
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The Judiciary and IPR 
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9.  (U) Whereas enforcement is making progress, the 
judiciary remains the weak link.  Jordanian judges 
need more education on and exposure to IPR in order to 
effectively enforce the legislation in place.  With 
the help of the judicial council, training courses for 
judges on IPR and e-commerce are being conducted with 
the support of the Jordanian bar association, and the 
ministries of culture and industry and trade. 
 
10.  (SBU) According to Talhouni, judges need to be 
quicker, more aware and understanding of IPR issues, 
and harsher in their sentences.  Many of them, he 
said, sympathize with the local shop owners and see no 
reason to protect the rights of distant foreigners, 
not realizing the long-term implications of this on 
Jordan's own nascent intellectual life.  IPR-related 
crimes are supposed to be fined anywhere between JD 
1,000 - 3,000, which is too low by international 
standards and could not be considered as a sufficient 
deterrent.  Jordan committed to increase to JD 6,000 
under the Jordan-us FTA.  However, some judges 
consider that too high and so give far more lenient 
sentences.  The solution, said Talhouni, would be 
awareness on how IPR infringement also hurts 
Jordanians.  Testimony by Jordanian victims of piracy 
could change the judges' mindset and make it more 
favorable towards IPR implementation. 
 
11.  (SBU) The Library and Higher Judicial Council 
have been working with local IP organizations and WIPO 
to raise judicial awareness through seminars and other 
activities.  The embassy's public affairs section has 
also been active in promoting IP awareness, including 
through a series of well-attended digital 
videoconferences.  But much more work remains to be 
done to bring the overworked judiciary up to speed. 
 
12.  (SBU) A related complication is the unwillingness 
of victims of IPR infringement, whether the licensees 
or the copyright holders (such as some Jordanian 
writers in a recent case) to file a case against the 
perpetrators for fear of losing business or for lack 
of conviction.  Many of them would complain loudly 
about their problems and issues whenever given the 
chance, however, they would shy away from taking any 
action themselves and would like the government or 
even post to do their bidding for them.  This largely 
stems from the generally non-confrontational nature of 
people and business in Jordan. 
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COMMENT 
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13.  (SBU) Jordan's record on IPR enforcement over the 
past six months remains mixed.  Greater ENFORCEMENT 
and more raids are taking place.  However, without 
closing the loopholes in the IPR laws, changing the 
mindset of the judiciary and convincing the victims of 
IPR crimes to file their own civil suits, IPR 
enforcement in Jordan will be hard-pressed to keep up 
with Jordan's commitments under WTO and the Jordan- 
U.S. FTA.  Allocating special IPR judges and training 
them while changing the image of IPR crimes by 
highlighting their negative effects on Jordanians 
would be steps in the right direction.  Finally, 
greater coordination between the National Library, the 
police force and the customs department could help 
making IPR cases a lot more difficult to dismiss. 
 
14.  (SBU) We noted with interest ref b announcement 
of USPTO's planned conference on specialized IPR 
courts.  This is just the sort of awareness-raising 
Jordan's civil court judges need to help their 
resources match their willingness to make progress on 
strengthening IPR enforcement.  We are working with 
Talhouni to identify two English speaking judges could 
benefit from this conference.  GNEHM