Kingdom kept on watch list

This will be a disappointment to the government, as it and the private sector have taken a number of steps to suppress violations and raise IP awareness via the Creative Economy project for the past two years. 

Only two countries, including Malaysia, were dropped from the so-called Special 301 list, the USTR office announced on Monday. The other was Spain. Ukraine found itself back on the list, said US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

According to the USTR report, IP-intensive industries support as many as 40 million US jobs and up to 60 per cent of that country’s exports. When trading partners don’t protect IPR, they threaten those critical jobs and exports, Kirk said.

There were, however, a few bright spots in the USTR report.

“The United States is encouraged that Thailand’s new government has affirmed its commitment to improving IPR protection and enforcement,” it said. “Some US rights holders report good cooperation with Thai enforcement authorities, including the Royal Thai Police and Royal Thai Customs.”

The US agency noted that the Kingdom had “taken some steps to address its long-standing problem of piracy of cable and satellite signals, although significant concerns remain about the prevalence of this problem in Thailand. The United States remains seriously concerned about Thailand’s failure to complete many of the initiatives begun in past years.” 

Legislation is still lacking in a number of areas, the USTR complained, notably landlord liability for piracy and the prevention of camcording movies in cinemas. The government has also failed to provide Customs with ex officio authority, to implement provisions of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Internet Treaties, and to improved legal mechanisms to combat copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting on the Internet. 

“The United States urges Thailand to improve its enforcement efforts and to provide for, and impose, deterrent-level sentences. Thailand should also make greater efforts to address widespread copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting,” the report said. 

“The United States encourages Thailand to provide an effective system for protecting against the unfair commercial use, as well as unauthorised disclosure, of test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products.” 

On the issue of public health, the costs of which can be seriously affected by patent restrictions on generic drugs and other treatments, the report said Washington wanted the Kingdom “to engage in a meaningful and transparent manner with all relevant stakeholders, including IPR owners”. Thailand should tackle its public-health challenges “while maintaining a patent system that promotes investment, research and innovation”. 

Noting the 2001 Doha Declaration on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and public health, the United States promised it would “continue to work with Thailand to address these and other matters”. Inclusion on the Priority Watch List can affect tariff preferences, or even complaints to the World Trade Organisation.