US embassy cable - 05ANKARA6899

UNCLAS ANKARA 006899 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR JCHOE-GROVES, LERRION 
DEPT PASS USPTO FOR JURBAN AND EWU 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/CRUSNAK 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, KIPR, TU, USTR 
SUBJECT: PROPOSAL WOULD GUT INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY 
PROTECTION 
 
REF:  ANKARA 3027 
 
1. (SBU) Summary.  A bill abolishing penalties for 
infringing the industrial property rights (patents, 
trademarks, industrial designs and geographical 
indications) of goods produced outside Turkey remains on 
the Turkish Parliament's agenda.  Embassy contacts claim 
that the legislation was recently sent back to the 
Parliament's Justice Commission not because it is in 
violation of the GOT's international trade and 
intellectual property obligations, but for procedural 
reasons.  While the legislation is contrary to the GOT's 
current efforts to harmonize with the EU, as well as its 
obligations under TRIPS, it is possible that it will be 
passed during the current legislative period.  End 
summary. 
 
2. (SBU) On November 15, Hulya Cayli, the President of 
Paragon Consultancy and Trade, Inc., told econoff that a 
piece of proposed legislation (reftel), previously 
thought by many to be dead, has reemerged in Parliament 
and could be considered by MPs for passage in the very 
near future.  The bill is currently slated to come out 
of the Parliament's Justice Commission for general 
debate.  The proposal, tabled by an MP from the ruling 
AK party, would abolish penalties for infringing 
industrial property rights (such as patents, trademarks, 
industrial designs and geographical indicators) if the 
rightholder does not produce the good in question in 
Turkey. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Cayli hoped to meet with the chair of the 
Justice Commission on November 15 to appeal for the 
legislation not to move to Parliament for passage.  She 
added that the proposal violates not only Turkey's TRIPS 
but also EU requirements.  "Even if they pass it, the 
government will have to rescind it at some point," she 
argued. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Commenting on the same legislation, Hulya 
Cetin, a judge from the EU Affairs Department of the 
Ministry of Justice, told Econ Specialist that the law 
was sent back to the commission not because its contents 
contradicted with Turkey's international obligations, 
but because it would be faster to pass it together with 
a revised Patent Law, which is also at the Justice 
Commission.  Cetin suggested that the interested 
international parties bring the legislation to the 
attention of the Parliament's EU Harmonization 
Commission.  Cetin, too, thought the GOT would have to 
rescind the legislation at some point, but noted this 
would be a long and difficult process. 
 
5. (SBU) Comment: There are various allegations as to 
why the GOT is considering legislation clearly in 
violation of its international trade obligations.  Some 
claim that the legislation is designed to encourage 
local production, while others allege smuggling 
organizations are behind it.  In any case, passing this 
legislation would negatively affect the GOT's 
international credibility in intellectual and industrial 
property protection, which the GOT has been striving to 
improve.  We are increasingly seeing the positive 
impacts of training and interaction with international 
agencies on the Turkish bureaucracy's perception of IP 
issues.  However, we continue to need ways to get high 
level decision makers, including parliamentarians, to 
commit to the fight against IP crimes. 
McEldowney