US embassy cable - 03TEGUCIGALPA560

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000560 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EB/IPC WILSON 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USTR FOR ALVAREZ 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, COPYRIGHT FOR TEPP 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USPTO FOR URBAN 
GENEVA PASS USTR 
DOC FOR LASHLEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ETRD, HO, KIPR 
SUBJECT: 2003 SPECIAL 301 REVIEW: HONDURAS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 43684 
 
1. (U) Sensitive But Unclassified Post submission of the 2003 
Special 301 Review for Honduras follows. 
 
2. (SBU) Summary and Comment: Honduras is largely in compliance 
with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights 
(TRIPS), but there have been no additional moves in the past year 
by Government of Honduras (GOH) to strengthen the protection of 
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).  Embassy recommends that 
Honduras remain on the watch list. 
 
OPTICAL MEDIA PIRACY 
-------------------- 
2. (U) Although Honduras has yet to experience large-scale in- 
country optical pirating, it is believed that a significant 
amount of pirated goods is imported from neighboring countries 
and that the piracy of books, sound and video recordings, compact 
discs and computer software is still widespread.  Confiscation 
has been erratic and usually involves minor seizures of CDs. 
Success in controlling optical piracy rests on the GOH's ability 
to effectively implement current laws. 
 
USE/PROCUREMENT OF GOVERNMENT SOFTWARE 
-------------------------------------- 
3. (U) The GOH has made progress in its protection of the use and 
procurement of government software.  After a meeting in 2002 
between the new government and Econoff during which he reminded 
them of their responsibilities, Honduras' IPR Division sent 
letters to all government agencies informing them that all 
government software use must comply with Honduran national law 
and international agreements.  Due to a lack of resources and 
personnel at the IPR division, oversight and enforcement has been 
nonexistent. 
 
TRIPS COMPLIANCE 
---------------- 
 
4. (U) Honduras largely has complied with the WTO Agreement on 
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), 
through legal revisions enacted in December 1999.  The Honduran 
Congress still must, for instance, adopt reforms related to 
integrated circuit designs and plant variety protection to be in 
full compliance with TRIPS. Honduras and the U.S. initialed a 
Bilateral Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Agreement in March 
1999, but substantive issues arose during the language conformity 
process.  Embassy expects that the current U.S.-Central America 
free trade negotiations will provide a convenient forum for the 
USG to push for additional IPR commitments. 
 
5. (U) Honduras' copyright law, updated in 1999, added more than 
20 different criminal offenses related to copyright infringement 
and established fines and suspension of services that can be 
levied against offenders.  U.S. companies are concerned that 
recent attempts to prosecute computer software infringement cases 
have been met with inadequate support by officials in the 
Ministry of Industry and Trade's IPR Division and the Attorney 
General's office. 
 
6. (U) Honduras ratified the Paris Convention for the Protection 
of Industrial Property in 1994.  The Honduran Congress enacted a 
1999 Law of Industrial Property to provide improved protection 
for both trademarks and patents.  To be protected under Honduran 
law, patents and trademarks must be registered with the Ministry 
of Industry and Trade. 
 
7. (U) Recent modifications to the Patent Law of 1993 include 
patent protection for pharmaceuticals, and extend the term of 
protection for a patent from seventeen to twenty years from the 
date of filing to meet WTO standards.  The term for cancellation 
of a trademark for lack of use has been extended from one year to 
three years.  Trademarks are valid for up to 10 years from the 
registration date.  The illegitimate registration of well-known 
trademarks has, in the past, been a persistent problem in 
Honduras. 
 
8. (U) The protection of data exclusivity by the GOH has been 
raised by the pharmaceutical and pesticide companies.  A U.S. 
pharmaceutical company has complained that the Ministry of 
Health, in approving a competing company's pharmaceutical 
product, did not respect their data exclusivity rights as 
guaranteed in article 77 of Honduras' Industrial Property Law and 
article 39 of the WTO TRIP's agreement.  The Ministry of Health 
approved the competing pharmaceutical product, despite 
communication from Honduras' IPR Division that the U.S. company's 
research and data were protected under Honduran law.  The U.S. 
company argues that in order for the competing product to be 
legally registered with the Ministry of Health, the company needs 
to provide the research and data to support their application. 
Honduran law provides five-year exclusive use of data provided in 
support of registering pharmaceutical products.  Further, a 
regional association of pesticide companies met with Econoffs on 
a number of occasions to express concern over the GOH's 5-year 
data exclusivity period which from their perspective is 
insufficient to justify product development and testing in 
Honduras. 
 
 
WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ORGANIZATION 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
9. (U) Honduras became a member of the World Intellectual 
Property Organization (WIPO) in 1983.  Honduras has not yet 
ratified the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) or the WIPO Performances 
and Phonogram Treaty (WPPT).  The treaties were signed two years 
ago and are still awaiting ratification in the National Congress. 
 
IPR ENFORCEMENT 
--------------- 
 
10. (U) The 1999 Copyright Law specifies three different avenues 
in the prosecution of copyright infringement cases: 
administrative, civil and criminal.  After confiscating pirated 
goods, the GOH can file an administrative case that may result in 
a fine.  However, the law requires companies whose rights have 
been violated to file civil and criminal charges.  Few U.S. 
companies have asserted their right to file either a civil or 
criminal case, leaving the resource strapped prosecutor's office 
responsible for the lawsuits.  As a result, few cases are tried 
to the full extent of the law. 
 
11. (U) Enforcement of the law relies largely on periodic sweeps 
in the market and on investigations carried out after an 
accusation has been made.  The GOH Customs and Tax Authority 
(DEI) is responsible for impeding the flow of illegal goods into 
Honduras.  IPR officials commented that police and DEI officials 
lack the skills and resources to identify and control the flow of 
pirated products. 
 
Palmer