US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT3222

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 003222 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
LONDON FOR TSOU 
STATE PLEASE PASS USTR FOR JFENNERTY AND JBUNTIN 
STATE PLEASE PASS USPTO FOR JNESS AND PFOWLER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, ECON, KIPR, PREL, KU, IPR 
SUBJECT: MIN COMMERCE IPR TASKFORCE RAMPS UP, SEPTEMBER 
CONFERENCE PLANNED 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary: During a July 18 meeting with Ministry of 
Commerce Inspection Department Director Mansour Al-Nazhan, we 
heard about increased IPR enforcement activity on the part of 
a newly created "task force" to combat intellectual property 
theft.  While the six-month old task force does not have the 
power to make arrests, it can seize and confiscate pirated 
goods, and can refer crimes to the public prosecutor for 
fines and arrests.  Al-Nazhan said that the Ministry of 
Commerce still needed more cooperation from other ministries, 
but hoped that a new inter-agency committee formed by the 
Council of Ministers would rectify some of these 
shortcomings.  He complained that the IFPI was "talking bad 
about Kuwait" without providing the needed cooperation, and 
said that his inspectors needed more training in spotting 
fake or counterfeit products in the marketplace.  He invited 
Embassy and/or USPTO participation in a September conference 
that would be geared towards educating the public on IPR 
issues.  End Summary. 
 
Min Commerce Task Force Gets Into IPR Enforcement 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
2.  (SBU)  Econ Officer met July 18 with Ministry of Commerce 
Inspection Department Director Mansour Al-Nazhan, who has 
been given the mandate to establish a new task force designed 
to carry out IPR enforcement.  He said that he is in charge 
of all of the Ministry of Commerce task forces for each 
governate within Kuwait.  His task force does not have the 
power to make arrests, he explained, but can refer cases to 
the public prosecutor.  His inspectors can seize and 
confiscate counterfeit goods and he displayed a paper chart 
that his task force uses to track all of the seizures, by 
neighborhood and type of goods seized.  He said that his 
inspectors usually start by grabbing "the small guys on the 
street" and then "pressing" them to find their supplier.  He 
said that his task force usually informs the local agents of 
the IPR holders of the violations, except for Microsoft, who 
he deals with directly through its office in Kuwait.  The 
counterfeit goods are destroyed, he said, after the attorney 
general gives his permission. 
 
Crackdown Having Mixed Results 
------------------------------ 
 
3.  (SBU) Al-Nazhan said that 70% to 80% of the piracy and 
counterfeit goods in Kuwait were being sold "by Pakistanis 
and Indians, like gangs," and said that the ones on top of 
the chain actually make a lot of money and live very well, 
"in very nice apartments."  He added that some Kuwaitis were 
involved, but that with the increased pressure on IPR 
violators, many of the Kuwaitis "had gotten out of the game." 
 He said that the small-timers had become much more careful 
and that most don't get caught twice.  He said that the 
dealers just show very small quantities of counterfeit goods 
to potential customers now, rather than laying out all of 
their wares. 
 
More Cooperation and Training Needed 
------------------------------------ 
 
4.  (SBU) More cooperation was needed with the Ministry of 
Interior, Al-Nazhan said, in order to get serious about IPR 
enforcement on the street.  He noted that the Council of 
Ministers had formed an inter-agency committee on IPR and he 
hoped that the efforts would be more unified through this 
committee.  He agreed with our assessment that the Ministry 
of Information has been deficient in its IPR protection and 
enforcement duties, but hoped it would be better "with recent 
changes at the Ministry."  Al-Nazhan said that the Ministry 
of Commerce was not really providing any training for his 
inspectors and that he needed more training in how to spot 
counterfeit products.  He said that some private companies 
have sponsored training seminars in Dubai but that more were 
needed.  He also said that he felt that the International 
Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) had been 
"talking bad about Kuwait without reason" and that the IFPI 
was "not cooperating" with him in his requests for original 
source material with which to compare the counterfeit goods. 
 
Expanded Scope of Goods, and September Conference 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
5.  (U) Al-Nazhan said that his task force was also going 
after other counterfeit goods, such as auto parts and 
pharmaceuticals.  Inspection and enforcement for auto parts 
was difficult, he said, because you can have legitimate 
"generic" or off-brand spare parts, as long as they don't 
carry a trademark violation by claiming they are genuine 
spare parts if they are not.  He said that pharmaceuticals is 
becoming an area of increasing concern, and he showed us a 
bottle of fake Viagra that his inspectors had seized.  He 
said that "an Arab national" was caught distributing the fake 
Viagra to pharmacies "all over the country."  Finally, 
Al-Nazhan said that the Ministry of Commerce and the Kuwaiti 
Lawyers Association would be sponsoring a conference in 
September on IPR and would aim to educate the public with 
statistics and displays of counterfeit products.  He welcomed 
Embassy and/or USPTO support and participation. 
 
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Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
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TUELLER